Tale of the Spiral
by kirby1196
Summary: With Malistaire on the rise and things out of control, Merle and Gamma have no choice but to summon a person from another universe to save theirs. However, when that person doesn't seem to be hero-material, will they be able to live up to the task of becoming the Savior of the Spiral? Rating might change to T later on.
1. New Beginnings

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings **

It was their only hope.

"Are you sure about this?" Asked a tall figure, glancing to another creature perched on a wooden pole. "What if they don't comply?"

"You know that this is our only option. He is starting to cause havoc and most of our students are too afraid to do anything. We're already swamped here with the mess he's caused! We need someone who will stand up to this threat, before it gets out of hands!"

"I see what you mean," the tall figure said, turning to a glowing orb resting on a stand. He waved his hands over it expectantly, "Magic ball, show me the one that will restore peace here, and across the Spiral!"

The orb, once glowing too bright to see inside, dimmed down as the two beings starred into it. The first creature backed up in surprise, "A human!"

"Yes," The tall one hummed, "and from a world that does not believe in magic. This will be…interesting."

"Well? What are you waiting for? Cast the spell, and let's save the Spiral!" The creature said in a huff.

"Not so fast. If we pull her too early, there might be dire consequences." The tall creature took a staff that lay resting near his body.

The figure brought the staff up and into the air, waving its other hand as the orb in the middle glowed brightly to the action. "Find the one we see before us, and bring her to me!"

The figure then touched the end of the staff to the orb gently, "But not so harshly, might I add."

The ball radiated like it never did before, almost blinding the two beings. Echoes bounced off the walls, "Ooke… Brooke…. Broooke!"

"Brooke! Brooke are you even listening to me?" A motherly figure stood over another individual, who lay comfortably in a lounging chair. A big book was separating the two, as the one in the chair flipped to another page. With a loud sigh, they brought the book beneath their face.

"Yeah, mom?"

The mother straightened her posture, crossing her arms. "Don't give me that attitude. You dad is waiting for you."

The girl, named Brooke, looked to her mom in a scornful glare, her brown eyes radiating anger. "I'm not going."

"Yes, you are." The mother responded, plucking the book out of Brooke's hands. Brooke sat up, looking over from the chair was sitting in, as her mom put the book back on the shelf it came from.

"You're going to make your father very sad if you don't."

"So? It's not like you care anymore."

The mom looked to her child, who was now looking away, tears in her eyes. She sighed, going over to Brooke. "Brooke, you know your father and I still love you and your brothers very much-"

"But you don't love each other anymore." She pushed her mother's incoming arm away, getting up.

"That doesn't help. None of this does." She opened her arms to the vastness that was room. "I don't want to leave here. I don't want you two getting separated."

"It's just for the weekend honey." Her mom said, going over to Brooke, trying to comfort her. "I don't want this either, but if it makes your father happy-"

"Just-stop." Brooke said, not letting her mom give her a hug. "Let me get my things in peace." The mother looked away with saddened eyes, as if wondering if things would ever go back to normal.

"Alright then." Her mother looked to her daughter one last time, before leaving the bedroom, and pulling the door close.

Brooke sat on her chair, miffed that her mood was ruined, when something caught her attention. There was something sitting on her bed, and she knew it wasn't there before. It looked like an old rolled up piece of paper, bounded together by blue string and sealed with red wax.

'What an odd thing', Brooke thought to herself, getting up from her spot. She walked over to it, wondering if her mother left it in her room. It looked pretty important.

Upon closer inspection, the red wax had the picture of an old tree imprinted onto it, with a big M in front of it. The paper also looked charred at the ends, feeling rigid and stale.

Half of her felt the need to ask her mom if it was hers. After all, it looked pretty important. However, the other half was very curious, and decided that a small peak wouldn't hurt.

Brooke broke the seal, the string falling to the bed, as she started to unravel it. The paper crinkled and cracked under Brooke's fingers, making her wonder all the more just where this came from.

Finally some words appeared, in the most smooth cursive she had ever seen.

_You've been accepted to Wizard City._

"Wizard City?" Brooke asked aloud, questioning just who this was for. She had thoughts of continuing.

She didn't get that far though.

The paper suddenly glowed brighter than Brooke imagined, as she tossed the paper aside, falling down in pain. The paper fell on her bed, unraveling itself fully, as the words almost seemed to float off of the page.

Brooke rubbed her eyes, wide eyed in absolute fear, as she backed away from her bed. "What is happening?!"

Brooke then saw her brunette hair flicker in front of her face, as a vortex started to grow from the center of the paper. The winds picked up in her room, items flying off of shelves and her desk only to circle in the chaos.

Brooke rolled to her stomach and gripped the carpet floor for life, as she felt her legs come off the ground. Soon it was too strong, as she saw in agony her fingers starting to slip.

"MOOOOOOOM!" Was the last thing Brooke felt herself screaming before it was drowned out by winds.

Her hands let go, as she was violently taken into the vortex. Instead of swirling around with her stuff though, her body was being sucked into the middle. Brooke's vision starting to go from all of the turning; her ceiling starting to get very far away.

She thought she heard her door open and a voice. But she'd never know before everything went black…


	2. Welcome to Wizard City

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Wizard City**

"Aha! I think the spell is working!"

The tall figure and creature shielded their eyes, the orb shining brightly again. Soon enough they heard the echo of a girl's scream, before something shot out of the orb and half across the room.

There was a loud CRASH and the room shook a little, before the figure and creature looked over to the now pile of books on the floor.

A girl's head popped out from the books, her head spinning and her stomach doing the same. "Uuuuh, no more…"

"Oh Dear. I did say, 'not so harshly'."

"Well, it has been a while since you had to cast that spell."

Brooke, now out of her daze, was alerted to the voices. "Who's there?"

She tried spinning her head around, noticing she really couldn't until she freed her upper half.

"Please, allow me." Came the voice again. Before Brooke could struggle again, the books around her started to get lighter.

She watched in surprise and shock, as the books that were once her captor floated above her before being put back in order on the shelf that they had fallen off of.

"There we go. I hope that helps somewhat."

Now having the ability, Brooke looked behind, as she found herself not in her room anymore.

The room was lit dimly and wood furniture was the main décor. Books were everywhere, either on shelves or on the floor in an untidy manner. Both the floor and ceiling were dressed in Cobblestone.

Brooke then noticed the man in the room.

He was old, very old, with a long white beard and a monocle over his right eye. He was dressed in dark royal purple robes, while a long dark purple hat rested on his head. Golden Stars and Moons were embroidered onto the clothing. The man was hunched; putting some of his weight on a walking stick he carried that looked more like a long staff. The end was golden and curled to hold a blue sphere in its grasp. Resting beside him was a big white owl that wore glasses and a scholar's cap, a somewhat cape to its side.

The old man smiled to Brooke, "So sorry for the crash landing. But what can you do when you haven't practiced in a while, hm?"

He walked closer to the girl, "I, am Merle Ambrose," He then gestured to the owl, "and this is Gamma."

Brooke looked from the man, then to the owl. "This has to be a dream."

"Oh, it isn't." The owl said, coming out with a shrilled voice. Brooke replied back in a shrilled voice as well. It was called screaming.

"Now, Now." Merle said, trying to calm Brooke down. Gamma just plugged his ears. "There's nothing to be scared about."

"Talking owl!" Brooke replied, proceeding to take steps back from Merle as well. "Where am I? How did I get here? How did those books fly? Why is there a talking owl?!"

Merle Ambrose put a hand on her shoulder, shutting Brooke up as she gave the man terrified eyes.

"You, young child, are now in Wizard City. I brought you here with one of my invitation spells. However, I haven't had to send one that far in a long time."

"Whoa, whoa." Brooke said, taking the man's hand off of her shoulder. "Spells? Wizards? Those don't exist."

"Not in your world," Merle retorted, "But in this universe, it does."

"Universe?" Brooke didn't think her eyes could get any wider, but her face proved her wrong. She…she was in another universe? She shook her head, "Th-that can't be true. You have to be lying. This has to be a dream. This has to be…"

"I can assure you, it isn't." Merle said, as Gamma flew over to a nearby desk.

"So… So you basically kidnapped me!" Brooke then shouted out, anger on her face. "Why did you bring me here! What do you want with me?"

"We really didn't." Gamma said, "You did accept the invite, did you not?"

"Invite?" Brooke asked questioningly, when she remembered the piece of paper.

"You mean that rolled up piece of paper on my bed?"

"We prefer to call those, 'scrolls'. And yes, that thing." Gamma gestured with his wings. "By breaking the seal and reading the contents, you accepted the invite and therefore, the spell activated."

"I got one line in!"

"Nevertheless, you still opened it."

Merle decided to step in before Brooke tried anything. "What my companion is trying to say here is that you're now here because of the spell."

Brooke shook her head, her anger starting to take over. "You still haven't answered my other questions. If this isn't a dream, then why am I here?"

Merle, instead of trying to explain it in a dark room, decided to gesture his hand to one of the doors in the room, the wooden slate opening up. "Come, walk with me."

Brooke felt so confused. She didn't know if she should be terrified, or angry. One second she's in her room getting ready to leave for her dad's place, the next she's in this strange room with an old man and a talking owl telling her that she's not even on Earth anymore and in a universe that uses Magic.

She wanted to believe that she had maybe took a quick nap after her mom left, that this was the answer to all of this madness. But Brooke never remembered even trying to sleep, let alone successfully doing it. Her dreams were crazier than this.

She didn't want to be near this old man and his owl, but where would she go if she did run away? Would she ever get back to her home? Her parents, her brothers, would she ever see them again? Why did this man want her…?

Merle took Brooke by the shoulder, leading her through the door that shined brightly. Brooke covered her eyes, approaching the door as suddenly she felt her skin getting warmer once stepping through the door. The heat only the natural sun could give her.

Brooke opened her eyes, noticing that they were outside. But the thing that bothered her was that she felt like she just stepped into a fairytale.

Cobblestone was the choice for the streets, except these were lighter in color, with blue arches for the pattern. Houses lined the street, also made of stone with blue shingles for the roof. The doors looked rustic with circular windows at the top, a spiral pattern going across.

Brooke was ushered down the street as they took a left turn up a small hill. She looked behind her, seeing a decent sized pond in the middle of a grassy field behind her, houses and streets lined around it.

Just what was this place again the man said? Wizard City? Why weren't there any wi-

"Look out!"

Brooke whipped her head around just in time for her and Merle to duck as a form swiped over them. They both looked up behind them as Brooke heard the wing beats of… a bird?

Before her in the sky was a giant eagle, golden brown in color as it flapped its wings in a steady rhythm. A head then appeared from up top of it. A young male's.

"So sorry Head Master Ambrose! Still trying to control this bird!"

Merle chuckled, "It's quite alright Nathaniel! Though a little more practice wouldn't hurt."

"You got it Head Master!" The boy then pulled on the reigns that tugged the bird, as it squawked in response. The bird then flew a bit up into the sky as it darted away. "Whoa! Slow down!"

Merle looked to Brooke, as she looked petrified. Oh Dear, not again.

She turned to Merle, an eyebrow up, "Head Master?"

"Head Master Ambrose!"

Both looked in front of them, as a girl ran over to them. She held several books in her hands, dressed in blue and red robes, as her blonde hair tumbled out of her cap. A black and white stick was wrestled between her fingers, as she stopped out of breath in front of the two. 'She's almost as tall as me' Brooke thought, still in fright. She… she looked like a human. The boy too! Well, she wasn't expecting any monsters, but the way Merle said how he hadn't sent an invitation to Earth in a long time…

"So sorry Head Master Ambrose…" The girl managed to get through deep breaths. "I wanted to ask… if I could turn in my Myth project… a little late…. Professor Drake…. Has been making me….run around….and…."

"Well, I suppose I could allow it." Merle hummed, catching a book that had fallen off of her stack and conjuring up a satchel. He then took the books out of her hands, putting them into the new bag. "But just this once, alright Sadie?"

She took the bag, putting it around her body as she beamed, "Of course Head Master! Thanks for the help to!"

The girl then looked to Brooke. "Hey! You must be new!"

"You're a human…" Brooke managed to speak. The girl looked to her confused.

"Human? I'm a Hanum, from the planet Reath. What's a human?"

Brooke looked to Merle, giving eyes that said she was creep-ed out, as Merle looked to Sadie, "Why don't you run along now. I'm giving Brooke a tour of our Campus."

"Alright Head Master Ambrose!" She then turned to Brooke for a second, "I hope we can be in the same class together! See ya!"

The girl then ran off, Brooke turning to Merle with impatient eyes. "Head Master? Campus? You never told me this was a school!"

"You didn't let me." Merle said in response, taking her shoulder again, "Now come along. There's something I want to show you."

'I've been kidnapped to a School. Could this get any worse?' Brooke thought to herself, as Merle ushered her past a small carnival to an arch that read, 'Golem Court.'


	3. First Encounter

**Chapter 3: First Encounter**

"I'm guessing you've never seen a tower before?"

"I have. Just, not this real."

Brooke strained her neck up, looking upon the white and purple-roofed structure that was the tower. The street circled around it, as a sign saying, 'Golem Tower' hanged above the door.

Brooke turned to Merle. "There aren't really Golems in there, right?"

"Well," Merle said. "There are a few that do reside in this tower, but we're not going up that far."

The old wizard finally turned his body towards Brooke."Allow me to explain your predicament. My full title is Merle Ambrose, Head Master of The Raven Wood School of Magical Arts. It's a small Campus, but it houses 6 Schools for our students to choose from. We're actually getting a new school here, but I'm getting off topic."

"Question." Brooke said, raising her hand.

"Yes?" Merle hummed.

"Why am I here?"

"I'll get to that Brooke. Let me explain a few more things so that your answer is a bit clearer."

Brooke huffed, crossing her arms as Merle continued on. "While our Campus is small, our City is not. Wizard City is one of the many planets in the Universe we call, the Spiral. Much like the Milky Way where you come from, the Spiral holds several unique planets. One of them is Reath, where many of our students come from. It is almost identical to Earth, but unlike your planet where Magic doesn't exist, in Reath it is identified and practiced."

"So… I'm the only human here?" Brooke asked, feeling more alienated.

"Not exactly. We have had human students here in the past, but it is rare I will say."

"This still doesn't answer my question." Brooke sighed, looking around them. "I obviously don't belong here, so why did you send me that invite?"

"Well…" Merle started when suddenly the ground shook violently.

The sky got dark fast. Lightning struck the sky, making Brooke scream in fear, as Merle stood his ground. Rain poured as if it were being emptied from a very large bucket. But the one thing that caught both of their attention was one lighted window in the tower. A tall figure strode by.

"He's here." Merle growled, as Brooke looked to the old man.

"What? Who's here?"

"Quickly Brooke!" Merle said, pointing to the door. "We have to get into the tower!"

"Are you kidding?!" Brooke shouted, flabbergasted. "You want me to go **towards **the looming figure in the creepy tower? No way!"

Merle turned to Brooke, a bit irritated. "We don't have time to argue about this, we have to stop him! I'll be at your side, now go!"

"Alright, alright!" Brooke said, lightly jogging to the tower as she put her hand on the door knob. "It was nice knowing me." She whispered to herself, opening the door and running in as Merle followed.

The two entered into a circular room, much like the one Brooke was in when she entered Wizard City. It was similar in décor and items to, but what stood out was the figure in the middle.

His eyes were the first thing Brooke saw.

They were black, with small, white pupils in the middle. He had long, black hair in braids down his neck, as well as a long black mustache and a hanging goatee. Black and Gold robes tumbled over his deathly pale body, as he held a long staff much like Merle's. However his was grey with a golden dragon perched on top, its tail spiraling down from the red orb it sat upon.

"Malistaire." Merle growled to the man in the room.

"Ambrose." The man said back, looking to Brooke who stood next to Merle, stiff as a wooden board.

"And a human. My, my, you don't see much of that kind in this universe." Malistaire's eyes caught with Brooke's as she suddenly felt very, very small.

Merle took a step in front of her, his staff raised. "You are no longer welcome here! Why have you returned?"

Malistaire gave a sly smile in the direction towards Merle. "I'm here to resolve my unfinished business." His gaze then went back to Brooke, who poked her head out from behind the old Wizard. "Is this your latest student? I know you're trying to stop me Ambrose, but you are getting desperate now. You know humans don't believe in magic."

"Hey!" The two turned to Brooke, who had now come out of her hiding spot. "I did believe in magic when I was like, 10!"

Malistaire shot a sneer at the girl, who was now yelling at him. "Did you, little girl? Tell me, do you think you can handle this kind of magic?"

He waved his staff in the direction of Brooke, as the floor suddenly started to rumble. The floor cracked for but a few seconds, as scaly hands gripped the ground from the cracks. Brooke screamed in pure fright, backing up as two Dragon creatures flew out of the split in the ground, wearing green and gold robes. They roared at Brooke, watching her face fill with fright.

Malistaire had contempt in his face as he looked in Brooke's direction. "That's what I thought. Humans are such cowards. All bark," He gave Brooke a glare, "No bite."

Brooke's eyes quickly flashed from being close to tears, to an anger that only violence could solve. That was quickly reverted back to tears though when one of the creatures let out a roar in her direction.

"Attacking an unprepared student? And without issuing a duel? You really have changed Malistaire." Merle said with disgust, as the dragon creatures were closing in on Brooke. She looked to Merle with cries of help in her expression.

"I thought we got over that Ambrose," Malistaire said, watching the creatures. "My Henchmen will soon finish this human off."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Merle announced, pulling out what looked like a leather wallet with colorful rectangles in it.

"And just how are you going to get that to her?" Malistaire asked. "If she even knows how to use them, that is."

Merle looked to Brooke, who almost closed in as he saw a silhouette above Malistaire's head in the form of an owl.

"Merle!"

The two looked up as Gamma flew in and perched on the open window. Merle looked to Malistaire quickly, before chucking the satchel to Gamma. "Gamma! Brooke!"

The owl, understanding what needed to be done, flew into the tower as he caught the small pack in his talons.

"Stupid owl!" Malistaire cried, firing spells from his staff at the owl, as Gamma dodged them all.

"Incoming!" The owl shrieked, getting close to Brooke as he dropped the pack in her hands. She looked at the thing, opening it up as she pulled out… cards?

"Hurry along, Brooke! Take that deck of spell cards and deal with those creatures while I tend to Malistaire myself!" Merle cried, as Malistaire advanced upon the old wizard.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, old man!"

"What do I do with these?!" Brooke shrieked, one of the dragon creatures swiping at Brooke as she backed up fast to avoid.

Malistaire ran to Merle, the two firing spells at each other as Merle was pretty agile for his age. He jumped into the air, flipping backwards as he landed on his two feet. "Pick the spell you want to cast, and throw it in the direction of the Draconians!"

"Are you serious?!" Brooke yelled, noticing the space between her and the dragons was getting very small.

She shuffled through the deck, seeing magical creatures on each card. She picked up one that held a purple and yellow snake. "Alright, I hope this works!"

She threw it at the Draconians, waiting for something to happen. The card just fluttered to the ground, as the Draconians looked back up to Brooke.

She picked another one, throwing one, two, three more, as nothing happened.

"Uh, I think your cards are broken!" Brooke said in a grim reply, her voice starting to shake as one of the Draconians grabbed her arms. "Let me go!"

"What?" Merle said, seeing Brooke's predicament. His eyes widened in his mistake. He quickly turned to Gamma, "Gamma!"

"I got it!" The owl yelled back, flying out of the tower only to return seconds later with a black and white stick.

The owl flew desperately towards Brooke, as the Draconian started to crush the girl in its grip. Gamma was sure of many things, but he didn't know if he would make it.

Merle tried aiming at the Draconian, but was distracted as Malistaire kept firing at Merle. "This match is over, Ambrose!"

Brooke tried dealing with the pain, her fingers holding the last card she hadn't thrown. A fiery cat was the picture as its name flashed before her eyes. She brought her hand up a bit, throwing it into the Draconian's face in a last attempt, "Fire cat!"

They thought the card was just going to fall. However, it shined brightly as the Draconian let go of Brooke in pain. She dropped to her knees, Gamma stopping as the two old men looked over to the battle.

"What?!" Malistaire said in surprise, as the card dissolved into the air, forming an orange glow that resembled fire. A figure leapt from the shine as its body was completely made of fire.

It fell in front of Brooke, growling as it stood its ground. The Draconians tried to advance towards Brooke, but stopped as the cat leapt at one of the Draconians, exploding into a ball of fire. The draconian stumbled backwards in complete pain, as the other draconian looked to the girl.

Brooke just looked to her hands. "I did that?"

"Brooke!" She looked up, just as Gamma dropped the stick in her hands. The item glowed dimly in her hands for a few seconds before the light faded away. The cards that were on the ground also glowed before disappearing and reappearing back into her pack.

"Use the other cards!" Gamma said, as Brooke tried getting up. She couldn't though, "I-I can't… I'm too hurt!"

Merle, seeing an opening, pulled out one of his cards, as he threw it towards Brooke, "Unicorn!"

The card dissolved in a green light that resembled a leaf, as a large, magnificent Unicorn leapt from the shine. It landed gracefully onto the ground, grass and flowers growing from where it stood, as it looked to Brooke.

"Let me fix you right up," the Unicorn said, giving a deep bow as its horn shined.

Brooke felt her body float up in this new glowing light around her, as her body started to feel energized. She landed on her two feet, feeling her joints. Brooke looked to the Unicorn in wonder, "Th-Thank you."

"Not a problem." The Unicorn said, giving one last smile before disappearing into balls of light.

Brooke looked to the two Draconians, who started to advance once more. One of them yelled something in a different language, throwing down the same snake Brooke tried using at first, as the card activated.

The snake curled up and reared its head towards Brooke, opening up as lightning struck out. Brooke put her arms up in defense, feeling the electricity bounce through her bones and veins. She then lowered her arms, noticing she wasn't on the ground having a seizure, as the Snake disappeared.

She noticed the other draconian grab a card from his robes, as Brooke picked one of her cards quickly. "Imp!"

Brooke cast down the card, as suddenly her hand with the stick starting moving on its own. It carved the symbol of the leaf into the air, leaving a green light before the card activated. A green imp sprung out, giving off an eerie chuckle before pulling out a violin and playing a song. The other Draconian held its ears in pain, before the imp vanished.

Merle looked over to see the battle, "Good work Brooke!" He then grabbed another card from his hidden deck, tossing it Brooke's way, "Take this card, and finish them off!"

Brooke caught it quickly, having to dive for it, as the Draconians heard there Master call to them.

"Fail this job, and I'll have both of your heads!" Malistaire cried out. The Draconians moved away in fear before turning their attention back on Brooke.

Brooke looked to the card and then up at her foes, as they both cast different cards. One of them cast a black and purple fairy as she sucked some of the energy out of Brooke. Another was an ice beetle, who shot at Brooke and made her shiver.

Feeling weak and cold, Brooke shot the card Merle gave her at the two Draconians, her hand moving to paint the symbol of fire into the air. "Meteor Strike!"

The card vanished into the air as nothing came out. She started to wonder if it even worked, when Brooke felt a tugging sensation above her.

She watched her hair flicker in front of her face again, looking to where the pull was, as three rifts opened into the air above them. The Draconians, apparently knowing this card, starting running away with their tails between their legs in fright. They suddenly stopped, as if they couldn't run anymore, turning to face the threat as big balls of space smashed to the ground. Meteors.

Alit with flames, two of the biggest ones aimed for the dragons as they smashed into the beings. The Draconians fell to the ground, coughing in absolute pain, as they themselves started to disappear.

With curious eyes, Brooke watched the balls of the light that was the Draconians float up and go back into Malistaire's staff.

The evil old man gripped his staff in mild anger. "So, your human has some potential."

Brooke was about to say something, when Merle stood up straight, saying what he shouldn't have said. "That's right Malistaire, and she shall be the one to stop your madness!"

Malistaire just sneered. "Is that so?"

He looked to Brooke again, who looked to Merle in fear. "What?!"

He chuckled, "We shall see. But for now, I have what I came for."

Merle raised his staff. "Not so fast Malistaire. You're not going anywhere."

Merle started a spell, when something crashed into his staff. It twirled out of his hands to the ground, smoldering as Merle held his hand in hurt.

"You've become weak, old man. We shall cross paths again." Were Malistaire's last words before he disappeared into thin air.

Merle clutched his hand, Gamma flying over to where the old man stood. The two were inspecting the damage to his hand when they heard a voice.

"Merle?"

The two, both of them noticing the other didn't say that, looked over to the origin of the voice.

It was Brooke.

"Wh-what did you mean…?"


	4. Going Home?

**Chapter 4: Going home?**

It had been a long walk back to Merle's study.

The sun was now setting on the horizon, as Brooke walked in silence. Merle wanted to say something, but he knew his mistake of already saying too much. Gamma flew behind them, holding Merle's burned Staff, which still waivered slight wisps of smoke.

They soon arrived at the Head Masters building, entering inside. The main room was cluttered with books like the other room, except the floor was checkered and the walls had a red background with golden arches.

A desk sat in the middle of the room, also needing some cleaning, as Merle walked over to it, taking a seat. Gamma perched himself on the desk, setting down the Staff. Brooke just took a seat on a chair that sat across the desk.

Silence.

Gamma and Merle looked to another, trying to find the right words to say. Well, an apology might be in order.

"Brooke, you know that-"

"It's okay."

They looked to the girl, brushing her hair out of her saddened face. "I know you didn't know that would happen."

She took a shaky breath, continuing, "This world is like living out a dream. Ever since I was little, I always wanted to believe Magic was real. But as you know, Magic isn't real on my planet, and so I grew out of it. To find out it's real is pretty cool, but…"

She brought up her eyes, as they were filled with tears, "I'm really scared of this place too. I don't understand anything, and I feel like I don't belong. Now you tell me I have to stop that guy in black, and save this world? I…. I can't do that…

"I might act tough, and strong. But really, I'm very scared and weak."

"What are you saying?" Merle gestured a hand, "You beat those two Draconians!"

"Not without your help!" Brooke snapped back. "Cards? Spells? Monsters? I know nothing of how to fight in this world! You seriously expect me, a human, to defeat that guy?!"

"Not at first!" Merle said, dumbfounded. "With some training and finding your right class, I'm sure you'll-"

"Just," Brooke said, holding up a hand, "Stop." The old man and owl could see tears going down her face turned away face. "Please… just send me home… I want to see my family... Find someone else…"

Gamma looked to Merle with confused eyes. This was the girl that was supposed to help them.

Merle looked back at his owl, before getting up with a sigh. He went around to Brooke's side, looking into her innocent eyes. "We can't force you to stay here. I'll cast up a spell, and get you home."

He helped Brooke up, as the three went to his study. Gamma sat on his perch, looking to Merle with annoyed eyes, as he shot a pair back. If a student did not want to accept the invite, they were allowed to go back home. Even if they were chosen.

Brooke stood next to Merle, looking at his crystal ball, as the old man looked to Brooke with concern. "I am sorry for all of the inconvenience this has caused."

Brooke said nothing, as Merle turned to his orb. He raised his staff, waving his fingers, as the ball started to glow. "Send this child back to where she belongs!"

He touched his staff to the top of the ball, waiting for the blinding light. It never came.

Gamma immediately looked to Merle with startled eyes, Brooke confused.

"Let me try again."

Merle held his staff up again, waving his fingers and saying the line, as he touched the staff to the ball.

Nothing.

Brooke now looked to Merle with worry. "Why isn't it working?"

Merle brought the staff down for inspection, Gamma flying over to take a look. "This isn't right."

He felt his hand through the gold, coming to the sphere at the end, when his fingers stopped. Gamma, noticing the problem too, looked to Merle with fright. Brooke looked to where their eyes went. A huge crack spiraled through the orb.

"This isn't good." Merle hummed, his finger running through the crack.

"Wh-what does this mean?" Brooke asked, her voice wavering. "I can still get home, right?"

The old man and owl were whispering quietly among themselves, not hearing Brooke's words.

"It must have happened when Malistaire hit the staff. Well, it was rather old."

"Do they even have this orb anymore?"

Brooke became impatient. "Merle!"

The old man looked up, as the owl scowled at the child. "It's Ambrose to **you**, young child."

"Now, now." Merle said, getting between the two. He looked to Brooke, whose anger was only a mask as her tears came again. "I'm afraid at this moment that I cannot send you home."

"What?!" Brooke said in horror.

He showed her the staff, "It seems Malistaire had broken the orb in my staff, where most of its power is held. Until I can get a new one, my staff is useless."

"Don't you have an extra orb lying around for occasions like this?" Brooke asked, scanning the room.

Merle shook his head, "It's not that simple. This orb in particular comes from a planet far away in the Spiral, and is very rare to obtain. They're also very strong and durable, so I haven't had to change this one out in a very long time. I know a fellow who can get me one, but the journey takes several days."

"Several days?!" Brooke exclaimed, "I can't stay here that long! My parents are probably already freaking out about where I am for the last few hours!"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Hummed Gamma, who flew over to Brooke's side.

"Upon every invite to Wizard City, we always leave the scroll as a calling card to tell the family of the new student, where they will be attending and staying. Yours is just a bit more special, since it would be more believable if we didn't say this place was about Magic."

"So… they're not looking for me?"

"Well they're probably startled about the sudden invite, but they're most likely not calling the cops."

Brooke took a seat in the room of the Study, a hand on her head. "Several days here… what would I even do? Where would I stay?"

Merle looked to Gamma, almost beaming as his eyes twinkled. "Well, this is a school. Since you're only going to be here for a few days, why not see what it's like to be a student here? You'll get the full experience of being a Raven Wood student, from picking your classes, to sleeping in the dorms, to making all sorts of new friends."

"I don't know," Brooke mumbled, "But I don't really see any other options. You're still going to take me home once you get your new orb, right?"

Merle smiled, "Of course. But, should you find that you do want to stay here, you are always welcome to and become a fully enrolled student."

Brooke sighed, "I don't think that'll happen. Like I said, I just can't become what your magic ball said I would be. I'm no hero."

"Well, let's forget about that now, shall we? For now, just focus on your stay here, and leave the 'saving' to Gamma and I."

Merle waved his hand, as a scroll appeared in his hands. He started opening it, "Now then, let's-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Brooke said, getting up. "How did you do that? You said you can't do magic without your staff!"

"I said I couldn't take you home without my Staff," Merle said, correcting the child, "Small spells like this I can do without my staff, but from the magic within me. The staff and any wand, hone in on a wizard's Magic core, and expand it to make bigger and more powerful spells, without burning us out in the process."

"So, is that why I couldn't do any spells without the wand?" Brooke asked, trying to grasp the concept.

"Not exactly." Merle started, "Humans have very small magic cores and some don't even have one to begin with. Many state that without a wand, a Human cannot possess magic. But you, however,"

He then pulled out his deck of cards, showing Brooke a very familiar card. The Fire Cat. "You were able to tap into your magic core, in your time of need."

"So? I got lucky with this one." Brooke said, looking at the cat.

Merle shook his head. "This is no luck. You did something that many, many humans would never be able to do on their own. That, is why I think you have potential here."

"Doesn't that mean though that without a wand, I'm powerless, even if I attend here?"

"Again, not exactly." Merle picked up the wand Brooke had set down earlier, "The more you practice magic, the stronger and bigger your magic core becomes. A magic core can become so strong, that a wizard could cast the greatest of spells without ever having to use a staff. I've only seen one accomplish that in my lifetime."

"Who?" Brooke asked, as Merle looked nostalgic. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter now."

He then unrolled his scroll, checking everything, as he then rolled it back up and gave it to Brooke. "On here is a list of our Professors here. Tomorrow you'll go out and meet them, then pick one of them to become your main Professor and School. You'll still attend all the others, but the School you pick will be the one you stay with the most."

A key then appeared in his hand, along with a white box wrapped up with a big red bow. He handed these to Brooke also. "Here is your key to your new dorm. Gamma can show you the way to your room in Raven wood. Oh, and here's a box with your new wizard outfit in it. Simply think of your favorite colors, and when you open it the robes will be the same."

Brooke accepted everything, looking over the box as Merle smiled, "I'll go as fast as I can to find this orb. Until then, Gamma will be in charge. I hope you come to love our school, and I will see your progress when I return."

Gamma then led Brooke out of the building, knowing that when he returned, Merle would be gone. By now the sky turned dark, and no one was on the streets.

The girl's face was like a mixed bag of confusion to Gamma. She looked miffed, sad, confused, and weary all at the same time.

Finally she said something. "So. How did you learn how to talk?"

Gamma frowned. "I've always known how to 'talk'."

"Does everything here talk?" Brooke asked, wondering if the tree they passed would say something to her.

"No. Not everything talks, but most things do." These questions were childish, Gamma thought. But then again, this was a human, and humans weren't used to this thing.

They passed through an arch with the sign that read, 'Raven Wood' and into a dark tunnel. When they resurfaced, they were in a new area, though Brooke could hardly see anything in front of her with all the darkness.

"This way," Gamma said, as he led the girl for a few more seconds before they came upon a door.

"This is your Dorm and where you'll be staying for your time at Raven Wood. Head Master Ambrose and I hope you enjoy your stay here at our fine school, and should you need any help, return to the Head Master Building and seek me out."

"Thanks." Brooke said, as Gamma flew off and into the darkness.

She fiddled with the stuff in her hands, getting out her key. She unlocked the door, pushing it open and into a dark filled room. The only light came from a window, whose light shined in from the full moon. Brooke looked behind her, thinking she heard something growl before rushing inside and closing the door sharply behind her.

Her chest huffed in fear as she felt for a light switch in her room, now that was the danger was gone. Finding one, she flicked it on as an orb on the top of her ceiling glowed and illuminated the room. She adjusted to the newfound light, looking around. The floor was wooden; the walls were stone as she stood in a circular room. They really liked those here she noticed.

There was a desk to the right of her, with a small chair to sit on. Upon the desk were a few pieces of blank paper and a quill dipped in ink. Brooke went over and pulled the quill out, looking at it curiously, "Is this real?"

She put the quill back, looking over to the other side of the room, as a twin-sized bed was in the corner. It was dressed with red and white covers and luckily big enough for her body. She then realized she had no pajamas, and figured she could ask Gamma for a pair tomorrow.

Brooke got up and then put the box and scroll on her desk, seeing then two pots on either side of her door. What were those for? Plants?

Having enough adventure for one day, Brooke flipped off the light, took off her shoes and crawled into bed. The light from the moon illuminated once more in the room.

Brooke laid in her bed, starring at the ceiling, wanting to find comfort in this bed like she did in her old one. Her bed, her room, her family. She missed them all so much right now. How did this all happen again? Why was she picked?

With tears coming in her eyes once more, Brooke fell asleep to petty nightmares of what school would be like tomorrow.


	5. First Day of School

**Chapter 5: First Day of School**

Brooke woke up to a horrid screech.

She pulled her covers over her head in fright, shaking. "Don't eat me!" She cried to her empty room. After a few seconds of silence, Brooke poked her head out, noticing nothing was in her room.

She hesitantly sat up in her bed, looking out of her room and to the beautiful blue sky. Was that her imagination?

That's when a huge figure poked its head up from below the window.

Brooke fell out of bed, screaming. However she stopped when she realized it was the huge bird she saw yesterday. It squawked a bit before flying away. Brooke got up in an attempt to see where the bird went, pushing her windows open as she gasped.

Below her loomed a huge circle of buildings with a huge tree in the middle. The streets were filled with students rushing to and from buildings, others hanging out, and some dealing with bizarre animals. She was so high up, she didn't remember going up any stairs yesterday to get to her room!

Brooke watched hundreds of students running around, before looking to her own clothes. She looked to her blue T-Shirt, crisp jeans and tennis shoes. She definitely wasn't going to fit in with this attire.

Remembering the present, Brooke went over to the box and picked it up. She remembered Merle's words, thinking hard on what she wanted the color to be for the robes.

She looked around the room, hoping for some inspiration. She wasn't too keen on brown, nor the white the box provided. She looked to her bed sheets, seeing the radiating red.

'Hmm, red robes,' she pondered, when something caught her attention below her. The box's creamy white suddenly burst into a scarlet red, making Brooke throw the box in fright. It cluttered to the ground, as Brooke went over to examine it. It was now a red box with a red bow.

She gingerly picked it up, wondering how that happened. 'Oh wait, magic. Duh.'

Brooke sat back down on her bed, thinking about the colors. She did like the red, but she didn't want as much. She thought of blue, as the box changed to that color. Could she have another, she thought? Testing it out, she thought of a bit of purple, as the bow that was once red changed to a dreamy purple. What was once a white box with a red bow, was now a blue box with a purple bow.

A few minutes of experimenting again, Brooke sat up in happiness. This would do. Much like the glow of the sun, Brooke had chosen to make her box a vibrant orange with a scarlet red for the bow. Now, to see the finished product.

Brooke carefully opened the box, finding a large oval in the box first. It glowed with the orange Brooke had picked, as she took it out of the box.

"What is this?" She pondered to herself out loud, holding the thin cloth in her fingers. With a flick of her wrist, the oval sprang up as Brooke gasped in fright. The oval she had held in her hand was now a witch's hat, pointy tip and all. Though the leather belt around the bottom was new.

Brooke put the hat on her head, feeling it to be a bit snug as the hat adjusted itself to be comfortable. She then pulled out a long garment, which she assumed was her robes. They were long and blazed with orange, with the red running down the sides and complimenting the orange.

The next thing in the box was long boots that looked like they could easily get up to her knees. They also held the orange and red colors.

The final thing in the box was something Brooke had to guess was a wand. She picked it up, the long wooden stick had a ruby jutting out of the end, while gold encircled the jewel with small orbs. 'This one is different than the one I got yesterday' Brooke pondered to herself, before looking to her articles of clothing. Well, time to get started. After all, she was going to be here for a while.

The sky held perfect weather, as the dorm door slowly creaked open. A shy head poked out, wearing an orange and red wizard hat, before opening the door fully to the new world.

The first thing Brooke noticed stepping out of her dorm was that she was suddenly on the ground floor. She looked back to her window quickly, still seeing the view of the place below her. 'Magic' she had to retell herself to make sure she wasn't going crazy.

Brooke then closed the door behind her, taking a few steps down a small staircase that exited her onto a cobblestone path. That's when the tree caught her attention.

It was huge, bigger than any tree Brooke could have imagined. The way it was formed made it almost look like it had the face of a man, though in this world it probably was. However, it only had one blue eye. Strange.

Brooke then felt people push her aside. "Hey! Move!"

Brooke stumbled forward, as a group of girls passed her by. She looked behind her to her dorm door. Where did they come from? She was behind her door just when she was pushed aside.

She watched the girls leave, her confidence going with it. Man, she really didn't belong here. Where was she even supposed to go? That's when Brooke remembered the scroll.

She quickly dashed back inside her dorm, retrieving the rolled up piece of paper, before exiting out and locking the door. Wherever they came from, it wouldn't be her room this time.

Brooke unrolled the scroll, reading the scribbled down words.

_So sorry I couldn't be with you at this time, but matters are matters. I hope you are rested, because it is now time to meet with your professors! _

_There are 5 in total, but we are making do with 2 more in a different light. Start off with Professor Balestrom. He'll be in the first building to your right. Circle around to each building after that. _

_Don't worry about the small details, I've filled all of our faculty here in about your predicament, and they'll see to it that you get a proper education, and a warm welcome to our school._

_I'm excited to see your progress once I return. But until then, have fun, make friends, and welcome to Raven Wood!_

_Signed_

_Merle Ambrose, Head Master of Raven Wood school of Magical Arts _

The scroll then poofed out of Brooke's hands in a cloud of smoke. She felt a bit…disturbed after reading that. It was as if the man was constantly watching her. Well, he wasn't Head Master for not doing anything she thought.

Brooke looked around, finding herself soon in the middle of a huge circle. Around the circle were 6 different colored symbols. There was a Skull, a triangle with an Eye in the middle, a Leaf, a cloud, a snow flake, and a flame. 'What do these mean?' Brooke wondered to herself.

She then felt more people go by her, as Brooke scuttled away. She felt too small in this place, watching everyone either having a friend or doing something fun. It really made her long to see her own friends and her family.

Seeing she wasn't getting anywhere by standing alone, Brooke walked over to the first building she saw, passing a suitcase along the way.

'Funny place to put a suitcase' Brooke wondered, looking around for an owner. Finding no one, but seeing that she didn't want the wrong impression, Brooke left the suitcase for now.

The first building she went too seemed rather, odd. The building itself wasn't, it was the sad, looming tree right next to it that added the atmosphere.

It looked rather depressed, with a never ending storm above its head and nothing but water for its lower half and roots. There was even a peer to get to the tree, though why anyone would was beyond Brooke. She almost felt sorry for it.

Seeing the cloud on the door, Brooke pushed the heavy, stone door open, only to see she was interrupting a class.

There were several students in chairs, taking down notes in what looked to be a huge book, all wearing the same uniform as her, though different colors. They all didn't have to stare at her though when she opened the door.

Brooke was about to back out with a squeaky, 'sorry', when a small, loud voice pierced the room. "Ah! There she is!"

Brooke looked around the room for the owner of the voice, when something leapt out from behind a big desk. What landed in front of Brooke almost made her kick her foot in absolute horror.

She didn't know why she had this fear, but it's been with her as long as she could remember. Even her parents thought it was ridiculous, but it was something Brooke couldn't stand. Frogs, and boy was there the biggest one she had ever seen right in front of her. Standing. Talking.

"Why Hello there! You must be the one Head Master Ambrose sent about." The frog then turned to the students, who were looking to him, then Brooke with puzzled looks. "Class will be dismissed early today! But don't forget to do your projects before the deadline!"

Brooke felt the students pass her by in such a hurry, that soon it was only her and the frog in the room. The creature leapt backwards, landing on the main desk in the room, as it struck its cane on the desk. "I am Professor Balestrom of Raven Wood. Storm magic is my specialty."

"You're a frog…" Brooke said with a pale face.

The Professor frowned to Brooke's remark. "I had forgotten for a second that you come from a world where animals don't talk. And yes, I'm a frog, but I prefer the term 'amphibious being'."

Brooke shook herself out of her daze, walking over to where the Professor stood. In all honesty, he was pretty short. He was practically the size of any frog if you made him stand on his hind legs and wear clothes. The clothes in fact were rather good looking. It was a purple suit with gold trimmings, while a purple top hat rested on his head.

Professor Balestrom seemed to be eying Brooke up and down much like she was, but with a silly grin on his face. "My, my, it's been a while since I've seen another human."

"Why do people keep saying that," Brooke mumbled. "It's not like I look different."

"Oh quite the contrary!" Brooke suddenly became alert, noticing the professor had heard her.

"Humans are very similar to Hanums, that is assured, which is why they blend in excellently." He then hopped behind Brooke, taking a look. "But there's always something about a human that can tell them apart. That, I am unsure of, but to the trained eye it is easy to tell a Human from a Hanum."

He then hopped back onto his desk, as he looked to Brooke. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions about this place!"

"You have no idea." Brooke said, still paling in the fact that she was inches away from a walking, talking frog.

"Rest assured, they will be answered in time. But for now let me tell you about my class, should you choose to major in it."

Professor Balestrom pulled out a card from his desk, starting his speech. "Storm Magic was one of the first three classes when the Spiral began. There was the Dragon of Fire, the Giant of Frost, and the Triton of Sea. All three fought a lot, but because of them, we are gifted with the knowledge they have passed down to us and there spells.

"Storm Magic focuses more on the weather around us, but still includes the fury oceans can hold. The students who thrive in Storm are usually Impulsive, Educated, Creative and Independent."

Professor Balestrom looked to Brooke for but a second. "Do you think you fit these characteristics?"

"Well, I do think I'm creative." Brooke said, smiling a bit. "Maybe I could do Storm."

"A good way of thinking!" Professor Balestrom beamed. "However, do not think Storm will be easy. While it is the most powerful of all 6 Schools, it is also the hardest to control. Let it be idle, or stir it up to much and well, bam! You've created a storm that you most likely cannot control, and those are the most dangerous to everyone around you."

Brooke's smile vanished, considering the consequences. Professor Balestrom saw this. "Now, now child, don't look so sad. If Storm isn't for you, there are always other Schools. Why don't you run along to see Professor Greyrose, hm? I know she is dying to meet you."

Brooke nodded. "That's the next building, right?"

"You got it!"

"Um, thank you, Professor Balestrom." Brooke replied. "Sorry about interrupting your class."

"Think nothing of it." Professor Balestrom said with a wave of his hand, "I look forward to seeing you in class Miss…?"

"Brooke."

"Ah, Miss Brooke. Forgive my memory, Ambrose gave your name in the scroll, but I am forgetful sometimes."

"It's...Alright." Brooke said, a little miffed that the Professor had already forgotten her name.

"Now, see to it that you see the other professors!" Professor Balestrom called out, as Brooke was leaving the building. He then looked ponderous, before raising a webbed hand. "Wait just a second Brooke!"

Brooke stopped, as the teacher hopped behind his desk. It sounded like he was rummaging through a few things, before he bounced back up with a giant piece of fabric over him. "In celebration of you attending our school, I want you to have this Storm banner to keep as a welcome gift!"

Brooke went back over, taking the cloth up and off of Balestrom as she looked at it. It was rather big, with a golden pole to even help hang on her wall, as the Storm symbol was bright among the royal purple.

Brooke didn't really know what to say. None of her teachers back home ever gave her such nice stuff. "Thank you Professor."

"You're welcome! I'm sure the other Professors have things to give you as well. Since you're very far from home, it's the least we can do to help you feel more comfortable."

Brooke then frowned to herself, knowing that she wasn't in fact going to stay. But seeing this nice thing was so generous, she didn't want to let him down. "It's very thoughtful."

"Ah well, that's a Professor for you. We always look out for our students." Professor Balestrom tapped his cane on his desk, "Whether you decide to major in Storm or not, I look forward to seeing you thrive at our school, and in my class!"

With one last glance around the room and a big thanks, Brooke left the Storm building to look over to the next. She had gotten some useful information about Storm Magic, a little bit of the Spiral's history, and even a nice banner for her room. Though carrying it was proving challenging. She wished at this point that Ambrose could have also given her a backpack.

Taking a few steps to the next building, the temperature suddenly dropped. Brooke found herself trying to keep her arms warm after a few seconds of being over there, then really walking.

On her slow waddle over to the next building, Brooke looked over to the tree next to it. This was more a of a huge pine tree, with a long nose and even a silly smile carved on his face. She also noticed the tree was covered in snow, something she started to notice with the trees next to the buildings. It looked like they corresponded with the Schools next to them. Interesting.

Getting inside the next building quickly, Brooke was happy to know that she wasn't interrupting a class this time. There was however, someone in the building at the moment. It looked like a small woman with wings.

She was in the middle of humming a tune when she heard the door. "Oh? Who is there?"

The woman whipped around, only for her eyes to sparkle. "Why Hello there! How may I help you child?"

"Are you Professor…" Brooke racked her memory for the name Professor Balestrom gave her, "Greyrose?"

"That I am!" The fairy said in a tone that was a mix of bubbly and giggly. She flew on over to Brooke, whom realized that the woman was almost as big as her head. It was then when the woman really took a good look at her. "Oh? Is this a human in my sights?"

She adjusted her glasses before giving a light-hearted gasp. "It is! Oh, you must be Brooke!"

Brooke backed away nervously. "Uh, yeah. He-"

"You know, back when I was a little sprite I used to visit Earth all the time!"

"Really?" Brooke asked, very intrigued now by what the Professor was saying.

She giggled, "Of course! Those were in my rebellious days though, trying to 'stick it to the wizard'." She then looked ponderous. "Although I do have to ask, how is William these days? Did he finally accomplish his dreams?"

"William?" Brooke inquired.

"Ah, let's see. I had his last name for a second…. Oh! Shakespeare! There we go! You know I was the one who inspired him to write one of his plays about woodland creatures. Such a nice man he was!"

Brooke didn't have the heart to tell her that her friend had died several hundred years ago. "Well, his books got very famous. We read them in school today."

"Oh how delightful!" Professor Greyrose said in a cheery tone. Brooke couldn't help but radiate a smile herself, seeing how happy the Professor was.

Finally the professor calmed herself down. "Now then, I take it you're here to learn about Ice Magic, correct?"

Brooke nodded, as Professor Greyrose waved her wand. A small cloud formed over her outstretched hand, as it started to rain gentle snow. "Now, Ice Magic originates from the Giants, the rulers of the sky back when the Spiral was new. However the Dragons, Giants and Tritons would go to war many times, until finally the giants fell into a stasis. It is because there power still inhabits our world, that we can call upon the spells they had learned so many years ago.

"Among the trio of classes, Ice is the least powerful. Some might think that because of this, Ice is not worth investing into. However."

She gently started to wave her wand, as Brooke felt the winds pick up in the blocked off classroom, as well as the temperature getting colder. Soon more snow started to fall, but it quickly changed to a hail storm. "If you add just a few more elements to the equation, stand back deary."

Brooke didn't need to be told twice, as she got out of the Professor's way just as she threw her hand covered with snow. The wind followed it, picking up its speed and the temperature cooled it down from soft snow, to a deadly projectile. The spikes of ice landed on the wall across from Professor Greyrose and Brooke, impacting the wall and staying there.

She turned to Brooke with a knowing smile. "You will see what Ice can truly become."

Brooke just starred at the spectacle in awe, as the Professor waved her wand and made the spikes disappear, as well as damper the storm in her room and return it to its normal temperature.

Brooke then turned back to the Professor, about to say how awesome that feat was. But when she turned to the teacher, instead she saw a huge shield where the Professor should have been floating in the air.

"Now, ngh, in celebration of you joining our, so heavy, campus, I, Professor Greyrose, ask you to take, ugh, take this Ice Shield as a welcoming-gift." It sounded like Professor Greyrose was in a bit of pain, and Brooke had to dive for the shield when she almost dropped it due to its weight.

Brooke took the shield from the Professor, fully realizing just how heavy this thing was, as she turned it to the side to see the Professor again. "Th-Thanks."

"Not a problem sweetheart. Whether you choose to join my School or not, I look forward to teaching you." Professor Greyrose then darted behind her desk as she took a seat, being tuckered out from having to carry the shield. "Now then, I believe your next Professor awaits your arrival."

Brooke looked to the shut door, before back at the Professor. It took Professor Greyrose a good minute before she finally realized what Brooke was hinting at. "Oh! Goodness me! So sorry, I'll get that for you."

With a wave of her wand, the doors creaked open to let in the sunlight of the day. She put her wand down, "Have a nice day my little icicle!"

Brooke wobbled out of the room as the doors closed behind her, leaving her standing in the freezing weather that inhabited the school. She looked to the next area, wondering what the next teacher would be.

"I hope it's warm." Brooke thought as she started her slow walk.

Not only was it warm, it was blazing hot. Brooke almost considered taking her hat and boots off from the intense heat, but the hot shield prompted her to rush to the next building and dart inside. She barely had time to notice the giant inferno of a tree, not that she needed to. This part of the circle already freaked her out.

After dropping the heavy shield, Brooke slammed the door shut from the outside before letting out a huge sigh. "Why must it be so hot?"

"The better question is; why must you complain?"

Frightened by the voice, Brooke whipped around to the front of the classroom to see the next Professor.

Like the last one, this Professor was also a woman. However this one didn't look like a giant ball of fluff, cookies and happiness.

She was tall, thin and threatening, with red eyes and hair that rose like a flame should. She wore a long, red formal dress that stood up at the bottom like fire. Needless to say, her figure alone intimidated Brooke.

"You must be Brooke." The Professor said, crossing her arms. "I was wondering when you would arrive to my school. From what Head Master Ambrose has said about you, I was curious to see what he was talking about."

She looked Brooke up and down. "And I must say, he was right about a few things."

Brooke straightened her back and appearance, feeling a bit threatened by her tone of voice. "Like what?"

The Professor gave a sly smile, "Trying to get defensive with me? Don't worry, I don't mean any hostility. You shouldn't yourself."

Not really noticing that she had done that, Brooke let go of her feelings for the moment, as the Professor just watched her with eyes that a predator has on its prey. She seemed so calm, so intent on studying her.

"My name is Professor Falmea; head of the school of Fire." The Professor addressed herself with great authority, her posture straight and commanding. "Like most of the other schools here, I also teach magic to those who wish to learn it. However, unlike the others who like to be lenient with their student's homework and time, I am not. I believe in strict rules, and proper discipline."

"That's nice to know." Brooke weakly said, making a mental note in her head not to join this class. However her face must had showed what she reflected on the inside, because the Professor looked curious.

"Ruling out fire, eh? I wouldn't be so quick to diminish your future school." Professor Falmea slyly said.

"Excuse me? I thought I had a choice on where I could study." Brooke said, feeling her anger coming forth again. Just who did this teacher think she was?

"You do. Everyone does." The Professor then reached for her wand on her desk, toying with it as if Brooke wasn't in her presence anymore. "With you though, you not only spark with Fire, you breathe it. Ambrose told me of your heroics in Golem Tower; how you unlocked your inner magic core through one card…"

Her gaze went back up to Brooke in a playful smile, before a card appeared in her hand. She looked at it before showing it to Brooke. "I believe this is your card."

Brooke walked over to where the Professor stood, before taking the card she was handing to her. The Fire Cat.

"That was just luck." Brooke quickly said, looking back up with a stubborn look.

The Professor just raised an eyebrow back. "Luck? Or destiny? Take your personality for another example. Stubborn, head strong, a short temper. These are traits many of my students hold. Even your clothing radiates the School of Fire's colors."

She pointed lightly at the clothes Brooke wore, who drew them in a bit in defiance. "I just thought the colors looked good."

"Did you really?" The Professor asked, walking around Brooke before regaining her original spot. She looked to Brooke with wild eyes, but Brooke only looked back with threatened ones. Finally the teacher sighed, raising a hand. "I thought we weren't on hostile terms. But if insist on being stubborn, I guess I'll get on with my lecture."

Brooke unclenched her fists, which she didn't know she even tightened to begin with, as she watched Professor Falmea slowly open one of her raised hands. A small spark of fire crackled in her palm.

"Long ago, when the Spiral was just new, there were three tribes that lived in hostility, much like yourself."

Brooke rolled her eyes at that comment, but watched in amazement as the fire quickly changed to form images. "There was the Triton of the Sea, the Giant of Ice, and of course, the Dragon of Fire."

Each image flashed a picture of all three forms, before it grew bigger than her hand. Dancing between the flames were more pictures of beings fighting. "The three tribes did not get along, and so they fought for dominance for centuries, until each tribe fell into a deep slumber.

"Now there power resides in us; and it is because of them that we know there magic and spells to this day."

The flames got bigger, prompting Brooke to take a few steps back in fear of being burned. The Professor didn't seem to notice. "Unlike Storm and Ice, Fire is a living embodiment of renewal. It burns away the old and decayed, and recycles life back into the ecosystem. It is not just an element, it is life. We, the disciples of Fire, know this, and while we respect its power, we also fear it."

"Fear?" Brooke asked, looking to the huge flame. "But if you can control it, why fear it?"

Professor Falmea looked over in Brooke's direction with a glint in her eye. "Oh, you ask why?"

Suddenly the flames got huge, almost hitting the top of the ceiling, as Brooke had to move far away in order to escape the heat. "It is those words that become the downfall to many a man. Because without fear, you will surely lose yourself to your power, and when you lose yourself…"

The Professor sliced her other hand through the first fire, making an equally big enough flame in the other. She smashed them together, sending a ring of fire throughout the entire room. Brooke braced herself, screaming in fear when nothing came. She opened her eyes, tears straining down her face, only to be shocked that the fire was gone.

The professor just stood there, smiling. "You will get burned."

For a moment, the two stood in silence. The professor noticed Brooke's hurt eyes, the flowing tears, and her shaking lip. "Come now Brooke, you know I meant you no harm."

She moved towards the cowering girl in the corner, but in a flash Brooke ran out of the building, leaving behind her stuff.


	6. KOM

**Chapter 6: K.O.M**

All Brooke could hear was her muffled sobs. She had run behind one of the buildings in the court area after exiting the Fire building, making sure no one was there before curling up in a ball and letting her tears out. She didn't belong here, she never would.

She was just a small, frightful girl, who never fit in back in her home town. But even then it sounded better than being stranded here. And that stupid teacher, what was she thinking?! Crazy, that's what she was! Brooke resolved to never go back to that building, resolved to never come back to this crazy world.

"I want to go home." She squeaked out between her sobs, wondering how long she was going to be hiding back here.

"Hey… you ok?"

Brooke tightened her grip on her legs, afraid to look up and address who was talking to her. However, curiosity got the better of her, and so she lifted her head.

A teenage girl was crouched next to her, which helped her get to eye level with the miserable Brooke. She wore green and light green robes, as her fair tan skin looked only beautiful when compared to her long dirty-blonde hair. Her blue eyes looked concerned. "Are you going to be alright?"

Brooke just shook her head, wanting to curl back up and forget about the girl. She felt too sad to speak.

The girl took a seat on the grass however. "You want to talk about it?"

Brooke looked away, not knowing if she should respond back. Did the others that go here know she was a human too? She didn't want to alienate herself.

When she didn't respond back, the teenager looked Brooke up and down. She spoke again. "Is this your first day?"

Brooke looked back to her with surprised eyes. How did she know? "Y-Yes…"

"Thought so." The teen replied, crossing her arms together. "I know it's hard to be away from home, but you'll come to like it here. It's not as scary as it looks. Believe me, I cried too when I first came here. I was a lot younger than you though, but I understand the feelings."

"But, I don't belong here." Brooke hesitantly said back. She was quite surprised with herself. Usually, whenever someone caught her crying, she would try to bury her emotions and act tough. Somehow, she felt like she couldn't do it this time. By now she had loosened up on her legs, slowly uncurling. "I'll never."

The teen looked curious, before giving a knowing smile. "I think you do. Do you have any friends here?"

Friends. Brooke had all but forgotten about her friends back home, but now that they were brought back up, it made her feel all the more lonely. She shook her head again.

For a second, Brooke watched as the girl's eyebrows went down in sorrow, before being lifted back up in hope. "Then tell you what. I'll be your first friend, ok?"

She outstretched her hand, getting it accidentally too close to Brooke's face before readjusting it to her frame. "I'm Morgan Greensword."

Greensword? What an odd last name. Brooke starred at her hand for a bit, before looking up to her face. This random person wanted to be her friend? Even when she was in her weak state? Should she shake back?

Before she could contemplate some more, she felt her body unclench as her hand instinctively took her hand. "I'm Brooke."

Their eyes connected, and for a second, Brooke felt a little better. Just a little. She was still leaving once Merle came back from his journey, but having someone to talk to for the short time she was here wouldn't be so bad.

"So, have you met all of the Professors here, Brooke?" Morgan said, relaxing a bit more. She brushed a lock of hair that had been blown into her face aside.

Brooke felt her frame tightening again, but she forced it to relax. "Not really. I stopped after the Fire building."

"So you've met Professor Falmea? I have to say, she's a bit too uptight for my tastes." Morgan waved her hand nonchalantly, before helping herself get to her feet.

"More like too crazy." Brooke mumbled under her breath in anger, before noticing Morgan getting up.

The teen extended a hand to Brooke, who took it as she helped her up. "Well, since you haven't met all of your Professors yet, how about I help you finish? Come on, I know this campus like the back of my hand!"

Before even having a chance to object, Brooke felt her hand being taken, as Morgan led her out from behind the building, and into the public once again. They passed by the Storm, Ice, and Fire buildings once more, all the while watching various students pass them from all different ages.

"So, what is the age range at this school?" Brooke asked, watching a few kids run past in baggy robes.

"I don't really know, though I do know that the earliest you can enroll is at 10." Morgan replied, her face scrunched up. "I wonder if they're out here."

"Who's out here?" Brooke asked, wondering if the question was rhetorical when Morgan didn't respond back.

Once they had turned the corner from the Fire building, that wasn't Brooke's question anymore anyways. Instead, she was baffled at sight of the giant ravine in the circle of schools, where a few chunks of land floated carelessly around where it was originally put."What in the-."

"That's right, fellow Students; we will not stand for this any longer!"

Before Brooke could think of a response, another student was suddenly in her face. "You there! Are you tired of waiting for Head Master Ambrose to do something on the matters of the School of Death?"

The student backed its face away from Brooke, revealing to be another teenager. He wore black and white robes, while another, white haired teen stood behind him with a clipboard. "Head Master Ambrose claims that the School of Death will be brought back into curriculum before the end of the semester, yet he has not delivered on his word in months! In fact, there have been rumors that he plans to never bring back the class! Now tell me, does that seem fair?"

"What?" Brooke looked to the two guys with confusion. What the heck were they going on about?

Morgan huffed to them as her response. "Can you give it a rest already Malorn? You've been preaching this for almost a 2 months now."

The pushy teen, Malorn, huffed back at Morgan's statement. "Well I guess it wouldn't matter much to you, Life wizard, but for us Death Wizards, we're without a Teacher, without a class, without a School! I'm sure you and your other 'pro-life' friends would be up in arms too if your school just got up and left Raven Wood! Besides, Morgan, I wasn't talking to you."

Malorn then pointed at Brooke. "I was talking to this young lady here. Now tell me miss, would you like to join our group to get Death back into education?"

Before Brooke could speak, Morgan had already put her hands on her shoulders. "Well this young lady is with **me, **and I'm sure she wants nothing to do with you, Blood Bat."

Again, Brooke didn't have a say in the matter before Malorn spoke again. "Let the lady speak her mind, you Imp!"

When she had an opening, Brooke scurried away from the quarrel the second Morgan took her hands off of her, since she needed them to almost poke Malorn's eyes out with her fingers. "What's that all about?"

"Oh, those two? They've been like this since they met each other."

Brooke turned to the voice, alarmed that she had spoken her inner thoughts. It was none other than the white-haired boy, who also apparently stepped away from the fight. His blue eyes complemented his Dark Blue and black robes.

"You're not going to bombard me with questions, are you?" Brooke asked, a bit weary of getting another ear-full.

The teen just chuckled, "No, I'm not as eccentric as my friend over there. However." He brought up his clip-board, holding it out to Brooke. On it was a piece of paper with several signatures and a pen. "Would you like to sign our petition? If we get enough signatures, then Head Master Ambrose will have to put in a construction order for a new Death School."

Brooke looked at the paper, then the boy. "Uh, maybe later. I don't really understand what's going on."

"Ah, you must be new here then. I figured with your vague, blank stare you were giving off back there." The teen brought back his arm with the clip-board, before clearing his throat. "See, 4 months ago, our Professor, Professor Malistaire, left Raven Wood in a bit of a fit. That huge Ravine you see is some of the damage he did."

Malistaire, now where did Brooke- It was then that Brooke realized why that name was so familiar. "Malistaire?! The guy tried killing me last night!"

The teen looked startled and confused. "He was back here?! And what?!"

"Yeah! See-!"

It was then that several students ran past the four of them, interrupting their conversations. "What's going on?"

Morgan and Malorn walked over to where Brooke and the boy stood, looking in the direction of where the students were running. Black smoke billowed from beyond the cobblestone wall that held the schools. "The Courtyard!"

Running with the crowd, the 4 went through the passageway that connected the circle of Schools to the open field, where dozens of students were crowded. Morgan grabbed Brooke's arm to keep her with her, as the two dudes and Morgan pushed through the students to get a better view. They eventually made it to the front and looked upon what had caught so many attention.

One of the houses was on fire.

Now this wasn't one of the stone houses, but rather one of the few wooden ones that still lied around in the area. The flames licked the house and threatened to spread to the other buildings, leaving a trail of smoke to rise into the sky. A pole was stuck in the ground next to the burning house, holding a black banner. The symbol on the banner was that of a Broken Skull, with a red dragon coming out from the skull.

Just looking at the live flames made Brooke remember what happened in the Fire Building. It made her more scared, more frightened of this world.

"The Kommies are at it again." Morgan said in a serious tone.

"The what?!" Brooke rudely said without meaning to, wondering if her and Morgan were thinking of the same thing.

Malorn turned to Brooke, forgetting about his past quarrel with Morgan. "The K.O.M. It stands for 'Knights Of Malistaire'. They're a group of students who follow under Malistaire, believing that he will return things to normal. Instead, they make most of us Death Students look like terrorists."

Terrorists. Now that was a word she thought she wouldn't hear here. "Why this then? Did Malistaire tell them to do this?"

"No, it's a warning to the schools about what's to come." Malorn gritted his teeth in anger, looking at the display. "Every one of those students involved in this madness makes me sick."

Brooke looked away from Malorn, her eyes unable to take their stares off of the fire. "Why doesn't anyone do anything? Where's the firefighters?"

"Firefighters?" Morgan looked to Brooke confused.

"A lot of students want to, but it's become apparent that if they try to stop what the K.O.M does, they get targeted as well." The blue and black robbed teen folded his arms. "So many used to try and stop what they do; now no one interferes, fearing that they'll go after them next."

Brooke then looked back to the front, before pointing out. "I don't think it's everyone."

The teens followed the finger, noticing as one girl had run out from the crowd and near the house. She was donned in light blue and cream robes, quickly pulling out her card deck and throwing two cards down. "Snow Serpent!"

The cards glowed bright as the teen drew out the symbol of Ice, watching as her two snakes came to life and hissed at the fire. She pointed a finger at the house which was alit, as it took no time for the serpents to hone in on the fire.

Mouths opened, the beasts blasted cold air at the house, diminishing some of the flames. However, by the time the snakes were done, the flames that were extinguished were already replaced with new ones, brighter and worse. Some of the fire threatened to catch the girl, who stumbled backwards in fright.

It was at that moment that Brooke felt a twinge somewhere inside of her to run to the girl and help out. But her fear overtook her, and she could only watch and do nothing.

"Steph aside, students!"

The crowd turned to the noise before turning back to the fire, watching as Professor Balestrom and Professor Greyrose had made their way through the crowd and to the girl. The student backed up when the Professors came into play.

The old fairy ushered the girl back into the crowd, as the frog of a Professor made his way over to the small pond that sat near the commotion. He threw a card into the pond. "Tempest!"

In seconds the card lit up and disappeared, spreading its magic throughout the body of water and willing it to churn and move like a storm would. A simple point of a finger was all the tempest needed before it crashed into the burning house, smothering it until the flames died out.

The water returned to its normal state with a happy Professor to look at his work. The house wasn't on fire anymore, but it had been too late to save. With a few heartfelt groans, the thing came down in its own wake.

Students chattered among themselves in fright of what just happened. Who's house was that? What would be struck next? What would happen to the girl? All this and more only made Brooke hold her arms in self-pity, and wish that she wasn't here.

"It's okay, kids! The fire is out! Please return back to your previous schedules." Professor Greyrose cried, as she silently gestured for the body of students to leave. In mass groups the students left, until only two remained.

"Come on, Brooke." Morgan took Brooke's arm, gesturing her to leave. Brooke followed.

"Who was that girl?" Brooke asked, noticing that she kept looking back from time to time. She saw that Professor Greyrose had pulled the banner out of the ground by that point, but the blue student still lingered near the two Professors.

"Scarlet FrostBringer. She's a bit of a loner, so I'd stay away from her."

It was then that the two girls had caught up to the two death students. Apparently Malorn was in the middle of a conversation with the other teen when they came in. "I'm telling you Ben, if I see one more stunt like that, I'm going to-"

"Do what? Take the K.O.M on?" Morgan raised an eyebrow to Malorn's petty threat, who only glared when she interrupted his rant. "Do you even know what they do to students who stand up to them?"

"Well this has been going on long enough. I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that enough if enough!" Malorn made a make-shift fist before pounding it into his other open hand. "They're nothing but a bunch of terrorists!"

"Even so, I still wouldn't try anything." It was Ben who spoke this time, lifting a finger. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, Malorn."

"I appreciate the concern." Malorn just sighed. "If only I could do something though."

Brooke felt the same. She didn't voice her opinion though, and just let the three continue to mingle until they were back inside Raven Wood. It was at this moment that an old bell could he heard chiming in the background. The four listened intently.

"4 o'clock. Oh man, I'm late for my own class!" Malorn then sprinted off, but not before turning back quickly and shouting. "Come on Ben! I need an assistant for this lesson!"

"Coming Malorn!" Ben called out, looking to Brooke. "I guess I'll see you later, Miss?"

"Uh, Brooke." Brooke blushed a little when saying her name. She was used to guys asking for her name at her old school when she made a friend, but the way this guy smiled at her, she couldn't resist.

"Brooke. Well I'm Ben, Ben ShadowBrand." Ben then ran off towards his friend. "I'll see you around!"

In a half-hearted attempt, Brooke felt herself waving to where he was going, before watching him vanish among the ever-going students. Morgan huffed. "Trust me Brooke, you don't want to be associated with them."

"Why not? They seem nice."

"Ben is, but Malorn? Ugh, he can be something else." It was then that Morgan herself seemed out of it, before her face changed to shock. "Oh jeez! I'm late for class too!"

She then started to run off, which prompted Brooke to run after her. "Wait! What about my meetings?"

"You met Fire already, right? Well Myth is next! Go see Professor Drake; he's at the end of this arc!" Was all Morgan yelled out before she ducked into the first building on the left. Brooke felt herself alone again.

Brooke looked to the ground for a second, before deciding to pull herself together and continue her meetings. So much for seeing them together.

Finding the Myth School wasn't hard, but what was hard was to accept a giant standing outside the building. Brooke almost turned around and walked off when she saw the hulking frame of the man, but she figured this was 'normal' to this world, and that she should act 'normal' as well. For the time.

It was when Brooke got close to the door that the giant cared to notice her. Her hands went for the door, hoping to silently slink in without the beast knowing, but a giant hand stopped her from doing so. She squeaked and backed up, looking to the giant who had one eye.

"Excuse me, but do you wish to go in?" It asked with a fairly British accent.

"Uh." Was all Brooke could stammer out at the second. She didn't expect the Cyclops to be a savage, but just hearing it talk in such a polite way put her off. That, and that she was talking to a Cyclops. "Uh, yes."

"Professor Drake is in the middle of a session at the moment. Do you mind if you wait until he is done?"

"Uh, sure." With the ordeal finished, the Cyclops took his hand away that blocked the door earlier, before resuming his natural height. The thing couldn't be more than 10 feet tall, and wore a green kilt. Silence.

Feeling a bit awkward, and not wanting to stand outside the door like an idiot, Brooke forced her fears down and took a seat next to the Cyclops. She leaned her body up against the building, hoping that in some way this would make her get over her fear of the giant one-eyed man.

'It's only temporary' Brooke told herself over and over. 'Soon you'll be home where things make sense.' Still, now that Brooke thought about it, she would probably never be able to come back once she left. When would she ever get to see another sight like this? Hopefully never, but the creature still intrigued her, as if her inner child was coming forth again.

The Cyclops paid her no attention, until. "So, got a name?"

He glanced to the voice. It was Brooke, who tried to look as relaxed as she could for the situation. The Cyclops looked a bit confused as to the question at first, but he raised a hand to his chest. "I am called Bruticus."

Bruticus. What an odd name. This land was filled with those, Brooke surmised. She wondered if the Cyclops, er, Bruticus, would return the question. He did not. In fact, he went back to his dull stare at the column of a tower next to him.

"You work for, uh, Professor Drake?" If he wasn't going to continue the conversation, Brooke was at least going to try. Even if she didn't know why the heck she was even doing so.

Bruticus looked back to Brooke, who seemed more relaxed than the last time he glanced over. "No."

"Are you, uh, a student?"

"No."

"Gatekeeper?"

"No."

By then Brooke was getting mildly frustrated. She started to consider that Bruticus didn't even want to talk. "Well, why are you here then?"

"Oh Bruce!"

The doors to the Myth School flew open, which startled Brooke into getting up. The Cyclops looked over to a young girl that had run out of the school, carrying a giant book like everyone else. She hugged his leg, kicking one of her legs up. "Professor Drake was so BORING today! I feel like doing something exciting to counteract the dullness that was class!"

"Shall I escort you to the Pet Palooza?" By then Bruticus had taken the girl's book, which she offered the second she let go of his leg.

"Hm, maybe. I don't feel like training my pets though."

It was then that the girl noticed Brooke. "Oh, hello there!" Her pink hair stayed neatly in place thanks to her pigtails, as her yellow and purple robes swayed with her drastic movements. Like Bruticus, she also had a British accent. "Did you keep my Bruce company?"

"Uh, yeah." Brooke felt her eyes wander off again, feeling rather shy to this eccentric person.

"Aw, how nice! You really didn't need to though, him being a Cyclops and all." The girl batted one of her hands, as if the notion of someone hanging out with Bruticus was silly.

Brooke didn't know why, but something in that sentence suddenly ticked her off. Him being a Cyclops? What did that have to do with anything? By then another hand came down for the young girl and she climbed up into it.

Bruticus dropped the girl onto his shoulder, who took to resting there. "We should hang out sometime. My name's Tara, Tara SpriteBane! Bruticus, take me to the carnival grounds."

"Of course, Miss Tara." Bruticus then started to make his way through the students, leaving Brooke behind to watch as the girl waved to her. "See you later!"

How such a Cyclops could get lost in a crowd of students that were half your height Brooke didn't understand, but after a few seconds the two were gone. What an arrogant girl.

Brooke then turned around, noticing the other students leaving the building. Guess it was time to meet the Myth Professor.

Pushing open the heavy wooden doors, Brooke noticed that these doors were heavier than the others. It sparked some curiosity, but that left her when she noticed the man sitting at his desk. He wore a long, yellow robe that extended to his neck and veered off like a collar, while his blue eyes and bald head were pointed elsewhere.

He seemed occupied with a book in his hand, not even glancing in her direction before pointing at a clock above his head on the wall. "The next class starts in an hour. Come back then."

"Uh." Brooke stammered out, already feeling alienated again. Unlike the other Professors, this one didn't seem like he wanted anything to do with her.

After a few seconds of standing around awkwardly, the man finally looked up from his book in annoyance. "You're still here?"

The Professor's sharp eyes cut through Brooke's confidence, what little of it. She stammered to find some words, anything, but instead the Professor found his words quicker. "Hm?"

She noticed his eyes get wide for a second, before returning to their normal stare. He let out a groan, putting the book down entirely. "You must be the girl Ambrose was talking about."

"Uh, yeah…Hi." Brooke brought up a hand to wave in her nervous state. The Professor did not return the gesture.

Instead, he stood up from his seat, letting out another sigh. "Let's get this over with.

"I, am Professor Drake. And this is my school." The Professor brought his hand to his chest when he mentioned his name, something Brooke caught in her conscious. Just like Professor Falmea.

She waited for what he would say next, but nothing came. Instead, the man sat back in his seat, picking up his book. He flipped to the page he was on, but not before eyeing Brooke first. "Well?"

"Well?" Brooke repeated back, very confused. Was that it? "Aren't you going to tell me about this school?"

Professor Drake shook his head in Brooke's direction, as if her question disappointed him. He then pointed to an open book in the left corner of the room. "You can read, can't you? If you want any more information on this school, there's the book."

Again, Brooke felt her anger come back once more, her hands closing to fists slowly. However, she didn't feel like wasting her breath on such a rude man, and went over to the book. She could feel his intense gaze on her when she came close to the old book, and she eyed the man for a second before looking to the pages.

_Myth is imagination. The power of the mind, and everything it can create, drives the Myth Arts. It is illusion, dreams made real. If you can conceive it, you can bring it forth, bring it to life._

_Wizards of the Myth School, known as Conjurers, use Naming to summon beasts of legend by memorizing and calling out their True Name._

_Myth dwells between Fire and Ice, for that is where the shadows lie, and myths are the shadowy forms of thought made real._

"Whoa." Brooke felt herself whisper aloud.

"Whoa, indeed."

Brooke turned to the voice, noticing that Professor Drake had put his book down again, and had his attention on her. "Many students think Myth is just the class where you can push around other creatures and make them do what you want. Those are my least favorite students.

"No, Myth is what your imagination can create; it shows just how much a creature can conjure and expand upon the little knowledge that they hold."

"Sounds Awesome." Brooke couldn't help but feel a smile come to her face. She was all about Imagination! No need for Fire, this was her calling.

"It rather is. However." The way he said that word made Brooke come back to reality. Professor Drake got up once more, pacing the room. "There aren't a lot of 'good' Myth Students, so this class gets bogged down with several students, claiming that they have the intellect and imagination to master Myth. They don't, of course."

He stopped his pacing to look at Brooke. "And I can already tell you aren't even worth the trouble of teaching. I see no Myth in you whatsoever."

"Excuse me?" Brooke looked to the Professor, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. "Who are you to judge what I can and can't do?"

"Hmph. Stubborn and rude. Why am I not surprised."

"Only because you're being a jerk!" Brooke pointed a finger at the Professor, who just rolled his eyes at her anger.

"And you're being obnoxious." He then walked back over to his desk, picking up his book and reclaiming his seat. "You've already wasted enough of my time. Why don't you scuttle over to the School of Fire? I'm sure Falmea would be happy to take such a rambunctious teen like yourself."

Brooke's fists shook, her body twitching to run over there and show him a thing or two. But, his words got to her, and she backed down with a hurt heart. "I am not joining Fire."

Professor Drake was in his book once more, not even bothering to look up when Brooke slammed his doors on her way out.

Outside, Brooke sat curled up against the green building next to the Myth School. She fumed in her thoughts, watching the sun starting to set. 'Stupid Professors, stupid School, stupid Universe.'

"Is something wrong, my child?"

Brooke ignored the question, just turning in her spot away from the source. She was done with the people here.

When the voice didn't come back, Brooke expected that the person walked away. Instead, she was greeted with a cow head in her sights a few seconds later. "Excuse me."

"Ack!" Brooke stumbled out of her ball, clinging onto the building she leaned behind to keep her from falling to the ground. Getting a better look, she realized that the figure was in fact a cow. It stood on two legs, wearing a green kimono over its body, while its black hair was put up neatly in a bun and concealed with chopsticks and a flower.

The cow held its arms in front of its body, looking just as spooked as Brooke. "Oh, I did not mean to startle you. Forgive me."

"I-It's ok." Brooke said as she tried to calm down her startled heart. Man, she was getting jump-scared all over the place today.

"Good. Now, is something wrong?" The cow, Brooke assumed it was a woman, looked very concerned for her.

Brooke wanted to curl up again in her nice ball and ignore her, but the woman's soft eyes warmed her cold heart at the moment. Brooke groaned before putting her head between her legs. "It's a long story."

"I don't mind." Brooke poked her head out of her legs to see the cow gesture to the green building. "Please, will you join me for some tea?"

A few minutes later, Brooke found herself inside the green building, sitting on a not-so comfy pillow. She sat on her knees as the cow instructed, but quickly realized that that was a big mistake. The cow sat across from her on her own pillow, as she prepared the tea on the wooden table between them. "Tell me child, what is your name?"

"Brooke, and can I sit differently?" She squirmed in her position, trying to get feeling back into her legs.

The cow looked a tad miffed, but not for long. "If you must. It is more polite to sit on your knees though when having tea."

"I haven't sat on my knees in a while." Brooke took her legs out from underneath her, rubbing them to try and stop the pins and needles that had formed.

"So, what is it that is bothering you, Brooke?" The cow finished up the tea and began to pour the drink into a small cup near Brooke.

Brooke sighed as she sat criss-cross on her pillow. "I don't think you'd understand."

"I can be a very rooted person, Brooke. I'm sure whatever is troubling you, I have heard before."

'I don't think you've heard this' Brooke thought to herself, but decided to give up. "Apparently I have a 'job' to do here in Wizard City, but the problem is I don't think I'm the right person for the task. There are so many other students here who could easily beat me at everything, and well, I don't even belong here. I just want to go home, where I belong."

Brooke watched as the cow lady poured her a cup of tea, before taking it into her hands. She starred at her reflection in the tea, seeing her defeated face.

"Hm, but are you sure that is where you truly belong at the moment? Fate has a funny way of putting us in places and situations where we feel we are not needed." The cow then poured herself her own cup of tea, gently placing the teapot down.

"Take me for example. I never thought I would become a Professor at Raven Wood for the School of Life, yet here I am, needed."

"You're the Professor of Life?" Brooke almost choked on her tea when the Professor said that. Then again, the whole sitting-in-the-School-of-Life-alone-with-a-lady probably should have clued her in.

The Professor just nodded her head. "I am Professor Moolinda Wu, and I never thought I would meet the Savior of the Spiral curled up near my building."

"Yeah, well." Brooke's eyes looked away, embarrassed. "And please don't call me that, I'm not some Savior of the worlds."

"Not yet you're not." Professor Wu dropped the subject however when Brooke glanced back with annoyed eyes. She sighed, taking a sip of her tea. "I will admit, I would have never guessed you were the human Ambrose was going on about until you told me your name."

"Really? Seems like everyone can tell me apart."

"I've never seen a human before actually. I'm rather new here to this School as well." That intrigued Brooke, which made her wonder who the Professor before Professor Wu was.

"Since you're at the end of your journey to talk to your Professors, I believe it is time that I told you a little about Life." Brooke expected Professor Wu to get up, but she stayed in her seat. Instead, Professor Wu clapped her hooves together, and the room suddenly got very bright.

When Brooke opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the Life Building anymore. Instead, the two were sitting in a lush field of grass and flowers, with an old oak tree over their heads for shade. A slight breeze passed them by, shaking the tiny cups on the table just a little.

"Life is spirit, the force of awareness and existence. It is about constant growth and movement. We, as Theurgists, can bring life to the most barren of places, and breathe new spirit throughout the Spiral."

Brooke just couldn't get over how the heck they got out to such a beautiful place, but she listened to the words of the wise Professor in her awe. "This is incredible."

The Professor just smiled. "It is, isn't it? If you train in the School of Life, you might be able to do this to."

With another clap, the scenery around them dissipated back into the old Life building. Brooke just looked around once more to make sure they were really back in the building. When she turned to Professor Wu, she noticed the tea set was gone from the table. Now there stood a small bonsai tree, new and young to the world. "I want you to have this new friend as a welcoming gift to our School. It does not need much care right now, but the more attention and work you put into this tree, the more the fruits of your labor will come out."

Now Brooke knew she had no green thumb, in fact she couldn't keep weeds alive when she was little if she tried. But she couldn't bare to tell the Professor that, even after she helped her, somewhat. "Thanks, Professor Wu."

"It's not a problem, Brooke. I only pray that you will come into your destiny like I did mine."

By then Brooke had gotten up from her seat, grabbing the little potted plant to take with her. "Yeah, I don't think that'll happen anytime soon."

"Don't be so sure. Fate has a funny way of changing who you are as well."

With a wave of her hand and a bow for respect, Brooke left the Life Building to find barely any people outside. The once setting sun that drooped in the sky now only held the sliver of moonlight that Brooke knew so very well. It was night-time.

"What a day." Brooke said aloud, noticing that no one was around. She started to make her way to her dorm, when she noticed a piece of paper stuck to her door. She took it off, reading the scribble.

_Brooke,_

_Please report to the Head Master's Office._

_Gamma the Owl._

Was this it? Was Ambrose back? Could she go home? Brooke didn't even bother putting the Bonsai tree in her dorm, as she quickly made her way back to the building that started this crazy mess.

She opened the door with a slam, excited to hopefully see the old man and the owl. However, that wasn't the case, as Gamma was the only one in the empty room. Her smile faded to disappointment.

"Don't slam the door open!" Gamma screeched, startled by Brooke's entry. His wings flapped to get himself balanced once more, as Brooke just sighed. "So, I see you picked your robe colors! I guess you're a Fire Student now, huh?"

Brooke didn't even dignify the question with a verbal statement , and just slammed the door behind her in annoyance as her answer. Gamma looked just as annoyed back. "You don't have to be so rude."

"What do you want?" Brooke asked, not even trying to lace her words with anything sweet. She was tired and emotionally drained from everything that had happened today.

"Maybe if you ask nicer I might just tell you why I brought you here." Gamma crossed his wings, scorning the teen as her eyes looked just as angry.

Knowing her anger wasn't going to make the owl budge, Brooke took another deep breath and tried to calm down. "Is there something you needed of me, sir?"

"That's better. And actually no." Gamma then flew to the other side of the room, next to a closed door. "Follow me, please."

Brooke had to keep her deep breathing up, as by this time she was about to strangle the owl. Not needed? Then why was she here and prolonging such a bad day? However when the door to the next room was open, her anger completely melted away.

A long dining table awaited her and Gamma in the next room, piled high with all sorts of foods and liquids to eat and drink. "However, I figured you might be hungry after today, so I made you a meal."

Gamma flew over to a perch on the table, watching as Brooke took a seat and looked at all the food with hungry eyes. She never realized just how hungry she was until now.

Gamma let her eat for about ten minutes before finally deciding to clear his throat. "So, how was your first day at Raven Wood?"

Brooke looked up from her gluttonous feast, having to chew the chicken and bread in her mouth before answering. "Not that great. I told you, I'm not cut out for this place."

"Well, this is your first day. I'm sure after a week you'll be very happy here."

"I don't expect to be here a week."

Brooke then swallowed her food, stopping her monstrous eating for the moment to focus on the conversation. Gamma ruffled some of his feathers. "Either way, you're here until Head Master Ambrose comes back. Have you picked a School yet to train with?"

Brooke looked down to her plate. "Not really, there are a lot of different Schools. I honestly can't say I choose one though."

"Are you sure? Professor Falmea really seems like she wants you." He then pointed to another side of the room, where Brooke noticed a few items in the corner. It was the stuff she had left in the Fire Building! "She even brought over your stuff after you 'left' her room."

"**Especially **not Fire. I don't care how much she wants me; I'm not joining her class." Brooke took a sip of her drink, her eyes filled with embers of rage from earlier memories.

Gamma just sighed, knowing that Brooke wasn't going to budge at the moment. "Very well. We don't normally do this here anymore, but." With a flap of his wings, Gamma flew out of the room before returning shortly with another wand, a small card deck and a giant book. The book clattered onto the table, as the wand and cards were dropped delicately into Brooke's awaiting hands.

Gamma flew back down onto his perch, wiping some sweat off the top of his head from the book. "That wand there will start you off with all the basic cards from the Schools. We used to issue those to all of the new Students to see what School they would wish to train in, but now and days Students already know what they want to train in by the time they get here."

"Lucky me." Brooke looked at the wand, feeling how different it was than the other one she had gotten earlier. "Thanks though."

"That's not all." Gamma then pointed to the book that he had dropped onto the table. It looked very worn with a spiral etched onto the front. "That is your Spell book. It's basically like a back-pack but a lot more useful. You can put your wands, clothing, items, ingredients and a lot of other stuff into it, without having to weigh yourself down."

Brooke picked up the book, surprised that it was rather light for how thick the book was. When she opened it, she noticed the pages were blank. "How does this thing store stuff?"

"Allow me." Gamma flew over to where Brooke's stuff was, grabbing the banner first. He then fluttered above an open page of the book, dropping the banner onto it. Brooke figured it would just hit the book, but instead it lit up the second it touched the pages. In a matter of seconds, the banner disappeared from sight, and the blank page now had the Banner on it, as well as what it was called and so forth.

"Whoa."

"It's basic magic, but I guess it would be a 'Whoa' to you." Gamma sat back down on his perch. "I'll alert the other Professors that you haven't chosen a School yet, but I have a feeling you'll find your calling soon enough."

"Don't get your hopes set too high."

With that, and after snatching a few more rolls, Brooke grabbed her things, put them in the book, thanked Gamma and said her goodnights. She left for her dorm, contemplating when she'll be going home and just what the next dreaded day will hold.

"Is everyone here?"

"I think so."

Three robbed figures met under the light of the moon, hidden from any prying eyes. Their hands were hidden in the sleeves of their black attire, while their faces were just black voids from the hoods.

"The warning went without a hitch. I think the Student body now understands just what will happen if they cross us again."

"You say that, yet that girl still interferes."

"She is no threat to us, now that no one helps her anymore."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

The three figures turned to the new voice, weapons ready. "Show yourself, lest you get destroyed by the K.O.M!"

"I mean no harm." The shadowy figure then came forth, startling the three. Like the others, it also wore a black robe to protect its identity. However, this robe was etched with silver trimmings on the ends, and bore a Scythe in its gloved hands. A skull with six eye holes stuck out of the hood, striking fear into the members.

"Nightmare Wraith." One of them squeaked out, before they immediately dropped to their knees and kneeled. "We did not know you were back in this world! Forgive us for the misunderstanding."

"Rise." Its voice was unlike any creature, giving off an eerie echo that sounded out of this world. The three members did as they were told. "You misunderstand Scarlet FrostBringer. She will not stop, and the other Students might rise with her after seeing her dedication."

"But there are no more! She is the only one who fights us still, no one would dare help!"

"Then let's make an example of what happens when you interfere for too long." Nightmare Wraith looked to the moon, before back at the obedient members. "When Scarlet is alone, I want you to grab her, and finish her off."

The three members looked to each other, as if the command made them uneasy. They finally turned back however and bowed their heads in unison. "It shall be done."

"Good. You are excused." Without another sound, the three members dispersed from Nightmare Wraith, leaving the figure to glance at the moon once more. "Once Scarlet is gone, then no one shall rise up against us. They'll see, they'll all see what good the Master will bring to these worlds."

* * *

**Hello, everyone! Kirby here!**

**I wanted to quickly thank everyone who has been reading this story, gave it a favorite or have been following it! This story wouldn't have taken off the ground without you guys!**

**As a token of my appreciation, I decided to give out another chapter before the next deadline, so you wouldn't have to wait so long! **

**This one is long and a bit slow, so I apologize. I need to establish a bit more before I can really get to the meat of the story, so bear with me. As for the rating, I might change it soon to T, since the violence will be picking up from here on out, and I don't want to get in trouble. **

**Thanks again!**


	7. Finding Balance

**Chapter 7: Finding Balance**

"And that's why it's important to brush your teeth before trying to resurrect the dead."

Brooke sat in the back of the small group of students, wondering why she even attended this Death lesson. I don't even like anything having to do with Death, she pondered to herself.

Malorn was up and standing at the front of the group, as the ravine and floating pieces of land where the Death School once resided rested behind him. Next to him sat a small chalkboard, suspended by magic, as a crude drawing of a zombie and a toothbrush were drawn side by side. "Now, does anyone have any questions?"

A girl with green hair raised her hand. "Does it matter what type of toothpaste you use?"

"Oh yes! In fact, there are many different brands that I'd stay clear from, like-"

Brooke just put her head down in defeat, groaning. This was the third day after her first crazy day in Wizard City, and nothing was getting easier. In fact, things got a lot harder the second she started attending class. Since she hadn't picked a school, Brooke was forced to attend all of the major classes for all the Schools, which included homework, projects and the like.

It was bad enough she wasn't from this universe, now she was forced to answer questions about things she didn't even know existed. She not only felt like a fool when called upon in class, but soon she was starting to become known as, 'the dull blood bat', whatever that meant.

Just a few more days and I won't ever have to hear about toothpaste and zombies again, Brooke thought to herself, completely tuning out Malorn's verbal expedition into store brands.

"Hey Brooke."

The sudden voice, interrupting Brooke's thoughts, made her jump in alarm, but she settled down quickly when she realized it was Ben. Man, she hadn't seen him in awhile. To see him again brought a smile to her face. "Hey Ben."

"I see you're attending Malorn's 'class'." Ben sat down next to Brooke, looking over to his friend. "What do you think of it?"

"Considering that I'm bored out of my mind, I wouldn't say great."

"Aw come on, don't you want to hear about the excitement of toothpaste?" Ben waved his hands in sarcastic enthusiasm, which made Brooke giggle a bit. He set his arms down, looking over to Malorn talking. "Even if his lessons can be dry, I respect him for what he's doing.

"Malorn was right; we Death Students haven't had anyone to step in since Professor Malistaire left. We didn't even know if there was going to be a School for us anymore. But Malorn was one of Malistaire's top students, and he took over in order to keep the School alive."

Brooke looked back over to Malorn. "So he's been carrying the whole Death School on his back?"

Ben just nodded. "He might not look it, but he's pretty powerful when it comes to Death."

Brooke looked down to the grass the group was sitting on. "I honestly can't imagine Malistaire to have ever been a Professor if he did this much damage. What is that guy's back story?"

"You don't know?" Ben flinched, noticing Malorn's tone had risen to answer another student's question. He then looked back to Brooke, who looked like she was contemplating a lot. "Hey, you want to skip this lesson? It's pretty much over."

"Yes please." Getting up silently to not disturb the 'class', the two snuck off from the small group and started there walk towards the big tree.

"Professor Malistaire wasn't always like he is today. In fact, he was one of the best Professors at Raven Wood when back then."

"I find that hard to believe." Brooke said flatly, remembering her first encounter with the man.

"I'm serious. He really cared for his students; he listened to us and made things better when times were hard."

By the way Ben had said that, it made Brooke look over to him in concern. His face looked sorrowful, as if talking about it made him bring back those old memories.

"He really impacted you, didn't he." Brooke dropped all of her sarcasm for the moment. There walk slowed to a halt.

Ben just gave a sigh, looking away. "He helped me through some hard times, yeah. It makes me all the more sad to see what he's doing now though."

"_And she'll be the one to stop you!"_

Brooke tried suppressing that moment, knowing that she wasn't able to help. "I'm sorry for asking."

"Hey, you didn't know." Ben looked back over, forcing a fake smile. "But I'll be ok. So long as there is still hope in the Spiral, I'm sure someone will stop him."

"I hope so too."

Now it was Brooke's turn to look away, reliving all of the times she had been told about her 'destiny'. They both continued their walk again. "So, you never told me how you met Professor Malistaire."

"Oh. That." Any other time Brooke would have gone off the handle and told Ben about her crazy story and her nonsensical fate. However, the longer she stayed here, the more she realized just how dangerous that word was. She figured no one else knew she was human, and more importantly, the foretold 'hero'. What would happen if she did start flinging it around? She already saw some damage the K.O.M was doing; she didn't want them on her.

"Do you want to talk about it? You seemed eager to the last time you brought it up." Ben seemed curious to know and probably was, after that little tid-bit Brooke had gotten. Should she tell him?

"Not really, no."

"Well, if you do want to…" Ben left the question open wide, making Brooke smile a bit. Even in this crazy world, it was good to know she had a friend with an ear if she needed it.

"Hey Brooke!"

By then the two had noticed they were in the center of Raven Wood. Brooke glanced over to the Life Building to notice Morgan coming their way. "Hey Morgan!"

She cradled her spell book in her arms, something Brooke realized she had completely forgotten in her dorm. Whoops.

"Hey Ben." Morgan flashed a warm smile to Ben, who did so in return. "Professor Wu let us out of class early today. Want to join me and go to the Shopping District? There's this new restaurant that I've been dying to try."

Food! Now that was something that could fire Brooke back into spirits. "Oh heck yeah!"

Morgan gave a light-hearted giggle to Brooke's apparent enthusiasm for eating, before looking to Ben. "You want to come too?"

"Actually, I need to attend my next class in half an hour. Speaking of classes, last I checked I thought you had Myth in 15 minutes."

"Eh, I don't bother showing up to that class anymore. Professor Drake is such a bully, I swear." Brooke starred at the wall of Raven Wood in front of her, fuming in her thoughts about how horrible the Myth class was treating her. Besides, she would be gone in a few days. Who cared if she skipped here and there? It wasn't going to go on her permanent record back home.

"Professor Drake isn't that bad." Morgan commented, looking to the upset Brooke.

"He probably doesn't call on you because you don't know the answer. They call me names in that class."

Morgan just shrugged her shoulders at Brooke's response before looking over to Ben. "Guess I'll be taking her off your hands now."

"Alright, but don't get caught."

"Bah, what's this place going to do, expel me?" Brooke mumbled under her breath. After saying their goodbyes, Morgan and Brooke left Raven Wood to travel down into the Commons.

"So what did you learn about in class today?" Brooke asked, watching as they exited the tunnel from Raven Wood into the Commons. It was about the middle of the day and several students were running around with their own destinations to get to, or just lounging around near the pond.

"Nothing really new. Professor Wu talked about tranquility and finding your center in order to make your spells more accurate."

"Sounds hard."

"It's not really. You just need to put a little more effort into it than what you normally would when casting spells." Morgan waved a hand to the side, as if the notion of the task sounded easy. Brooke could hardly follow it, let alone call it 'easy'.

"So what about you? What have you been up to since I last saw you?" The two girls by then had entered into the tunnel to the Shopping District, a place Brooke had never been to before.

Brooke shrugged her shoulders. "Ugh, way too much stuff. I have so many projects and homework assignments due for all of the Schools that it's not even funny."

"Yeah, I've never heard of a Student trying to train in **every **School here. I actually thought it was forbidden."

"I'm not trying to! I just don't know what to pick yet." Brooke glanced away, thinking to herself that it wouldn't matter soon enough.

"I'm sure you'll figure out which School is for you." Morgan said with a reassuring smile. It was then when the tunnel opened up once more and let back in the sunlight. Brooke shaded her eyes from the intense light, as Morgan just casually strolled by. "Welcome to the Shopping District, Brooke!"

For a few seconds, Brooke couldn't see anything thanks to the blazing sun. Slowly but surely though, her eyes adjusted to the compacted area of Wizard City. There were so many houses all crammed into one tiny spot, but the students and residents didn't seem to mind. Almost every student who was in this area had at least one bag from a store or two, but Brooke didn't get to see for very long before Morgan gestured to follow.

"This is so cramped!" Brooke felt the need to comment, feeling odd about how this place was set up.

"It's not that bad. You get used to it after a couple of trips." Morgan led Brooke down a few roads, all the while Brooke was trying to take everything in.

Eventually they passed a gated off area, with a guard on post next to it. "What's with the gate?"

Morgan stopped for a second to glance at it. "Well, there are a lot of reasons for it. They're mostly used though to block off an area that's been overrun by monsters."

"Monsters?" Now that was a word Brooke didn't like hearing. She didn't even want to imagine what type of beasts lurked behind that sealed gate.

Morgan looked a bit sentimental the more she starred at the structure. "A lot of people had to be uprooted from their homes in order to seal the gates. I wouldn't know what that's like to lose everything."

Brooke looked over to Morgan, wondering if she was going to be ok. She knew that things were bad here because of the K.O.M, but she didn't know it was this bad. Just what other secrets lay hidden from her?

The two continued their search for the restaurant, all the while Brooke reflected upon the matters in this world. Eventually they stopped in front of a small house with a red building at the end of one of the lanes, next to two shops that had signs for wands and necklaces.

"I think this is it." Morgan opened the door, allowing Brooke to go in first as she followed behind.

The meal the two girls shared was quiet an experience for Brooke. For starters, she realized right off the bat the second she sat down that she had no currency for this world on her. Fact, all her meals were coming from Gamma at the end of the day. However Morgan didn't seem troubled to pay Brooke's way. She still felt pretty bad at leaving her first impression as a bum though.

Second, Brooke was a food lover, but she had never seen so many weird foods that were on the Menu. Goblin meat balls? Dragon ribs? Imp Salad? Nothing sounded appetizing to her, but she settled on the ribs in the end, which was a bad idea seeing they weren't called **Dragon **for not being spicy.

In the end, it was one memory Brooke wasn't going to forget, and one that made Brooke feel all the more sad to know she wouldn't ever see her friends here again after she left. With a heavy heart, and a stomach full of spicy meat, Brooke parted ways with Morgan and headed back to Raven Wood.

I hope I don't have to use the bathroom anytime soon, Brooke begrudgingly thought to herself as she held her burning stomach.

"Come one, come all! The lesson is about to start!" Brooke looked up from her misery and over to the center of Raven Wood, where two figures stood.

One of them was a student, whose black skin only complemented his cream and tan robes. He had a small tuff of red hair, which was put into a small ponytail to the side of his head. His eyes looked so serious, but did not lie on Brooke. The other fellow in front of the student was a humanoid dog-creature, standing upright and about two feet taller than the boy. He wore a top hat on his head, a monocle, and a gentleman's wear.

Any other day and Brooke would have freaked out about the fact that there was a walking, talking dog, but after 4 days of this nonsense, she wasn't surprised. She walked over to where the dog and student stood, getting their attention. "Well hello there little lady! You here to join us for a study in Balance?" Brooke made a mental note that this guy was also British.

"Balance?" Brooke looked to the two strangers with curiosity, but apparently her response made the student roll his eyes in annoyance and look away. She gave him a small glare back. "I'm new here, by the way."

"Well that explains the mishap! I'm Arthur Wethersfield the fourth, and this here is my assistant, Hunter RavenMask. Why don't you say hello, Hunter."

Mr. Wethersfield gestured to his assistant, who laid eyes on Brooke once more. They never let up in his serious tone as he gave a small bow in her direction. "It is an honor to meet you."

Hunter didn't have a British accent like the fellow before him, however he did have a thick accent of some sort, which Brooke couldn't pin-point.

"Uh, same." Brooke bowed her head back, wondering what was up with the formality.

"Back to the matters at hand, it seems as though you're a bit confused as to what Balance is."

Brooke nodded her head in response, as suddenly the suitcase came into view from behind Hunter. So that's who the suitcase belonged to!

Mr. Wethersfield cleared his throat. "Balance is harmony. It draws its power from the 6 living Schools, taking bits and pieces from each one to create a greater force. It does not function on just some Schools, no, it takes the full force of all the Schools and makes them one. Only then is Balance achieved, and only then can it be conjured for greater good.

"Balance is not just some School to learn spells from like the other classes. Balance is both the power and knowledge of knowing what you are drawing from, therefore it is a bit more labor extensive. However, without Balance, there is only Chaos, and that's not a good thing, now is it?" Mr. Wethersfield gave a wink, as if he found his words to be funny.

Brooke was amazed by his words. You could fight with Balance? "If you don't mind me asking, where's your building?"

"Building? Young lady, I just got here!" Mr. Wethersfield gave a small chuckle, all the while Hunter's stern eyes wouldn't leave Brooke. "I wish I could say I did have a place here in Raven Wood, but not yet. I would have gotten one by now if Mr. Drake hadn't gone up and 'left' Raven Wood like he did. Oh well."

"So you just stand around outside all day?" The thought appalled Brooke, where did they even sleep?

"At least I'm getting some Vitamin D!" Mr. Wethersfield put a reassuring hand on Brooke's shoulder. "It's nice to hear from a student that's concerned once in a while, you know? But don't worry; Head Master Ambrose gave me his word that a Balance Building will be built here soon enough, and soon all the students can become Sorcerers! But until then, I'm perfectly fine with standing under Bartleby's shade, teaching eager minds who wish to listen and learn about the art of Balance."

Brooke looked to Mr. Wethersfield's hand on her shoulder, then to his warm eyes and sincere smile. Out of all the teachers she had met so far, Mr. Wethersfield seemed the most upbeat and appreciative of them all, and he even wasn't a Professor yet!

"So, will you lend an ear to this old dog's prattle and attend a Study?"

Brooke's lips pursed. She had already skipped Myth, and soon she had to be on her way for Fire. Then again, she didn't nearly feel as nice as she did in that fiery room than she did here. "You know what? Yeah, I'll stay."

"Wonderful! The others are in the back behind Bartleby, just find a nice spot to rest and I'll begin soon!"

Brooke received a nice pat on the back after deciding to join the session, and really she needed that. For once she started finally feeling like she was accepted to this Institution. She felt happy.

The session was long and tedious, but Brooke enjoyed most of it. She had gotten her spell book earlier before the lesson started to jot down a few notes, but instead ended up taking 4 pages to write down almost everything. Mr. Wethersfield was clear and strong in his words, and Hunter helped a few times to grab something for the teacher or jot something down himself.

When the lesson was over, the day was practically over itself. All the students that had the free time to attend left for other things, but Brooke stuck around, seeing as though her Fire class was the last class for the day. Mr. Wethersfield had stepped away for a small break, leaving Hunter to grab the things that the teacher had left out.

Brooke decided to stretch out a hand. "Need some help?"

Before it seemed as though Hunter didn't notice Brooke stuck around. Now that she alerted him to her presence, he stopped his work for a second and turned to her. "No thanks."

"You sure?" There wasn't much to help with, but if Mr. Wethersfield took this teen in, he couldn't be bad, right?

"I'm sure." Hunter then went back to his work, all the while Brooke felt brushed off.

"Alright then." It was then Brooke noticed Mr. Wethersfield had come back. Happily she walked over to him.

"Well hello again! I hope you enjoyed the lesson." Mr. Wethersfield had taken off his monocle to polish it with a clean handkerchief from his pocket, not taking his eyes off of Brooke.

"It was really good, though confusing at some points." Brooke looked to the spell book in her hands, wondering just how much she would be able to read later since she had to write so fast to keep up. "I guess Balance isn't cut out for me."

"Nonsense, little lady! Everyone can find Balance; it just takes a little longer for others to let it sink in. I know I didn't get Balance at first when I learned it in Krokotopia."

"Kroko-what?" The name didn't seem familiar to Brooke at all and she wondered if it was a reptile paradise.

Mr. Wethersfield chuckled at Brooke's confused face before he gestured over to a few crates he had lying around in the back. "Here, why don't we sit down in the shade."

Brooke followed the teacher, sitting on one of the crates as Mr. Wethersfield did the same. He put his monocle back on. "Now, Krokotopia is one of Wizard City's many neighboring worlds. It's very different from here, I can assure you. Vast deserts, ancient pyramids, and some great ka-bobs there, let me tell you!

"I studied Balance over there for a decade from the Great Alhazred. If you think about it, it's rather a funny picture. Me, a 5 year old gentleman of a dog, learning how to cast spells for the first time with children who were far younger than I was.

"I was quite embarrassed, but I didn't stop because of that, goodness no! I had to cut my classes short though when things started to go haywire over there, but Alhazred sent with me his brightest pupil, Hunter."

"Really." Brooke looked over to the silent teen, who was still diligent in his work of cleaning things up. "I guess that explains the accent."

"Yes, Hunter didn't really know much English when I took him from his home planet, but he's getting better by the day. He's really a kind soul, that boy."

Brooke reflected on the story Mr. Wethersfield had told her, about how there was more than one active world. "You said that something happened in Krokotopia that stopped your training. What was it?"

For a moment, Mr. Wethersfield looked nostalgic. "It's nothing to worry yourself about, little miss. All that matters is that help is on its way to Krokotopia as we speak, and soon things will go back to normal."

Normal. Brooke wished she could say that for herself.

By then Hunter had come over to Mr. Wethersfield and said something in another language. It sounded Arabic to Brooke, but most likely they didn't have that language here. Mr. Wethersfield nodded to his assistant and got up. "Well my dear, it is time for us to depart. It was a joy to meet such a bright student."

He extended a hand, to which Brooke took to help herself up and shake. "The same for me, Mr. Wethersfield."

"Please! My father was known as Mr. Wethersfield. No, please call me Arthur."

Brooke couldn't help feeling a smile come to her lips. "Alright then, Arthur. It was nice to meet you. I'm Brooke."

"Brooke, huh? What a pretty name for a pretty lady. I do hope we can chat again sometime."

"I'd like that."

And with that, Arthur tipped his hat to Brooke and headed off with Hunter behind him. Brooke stood there for a few minutes, feeling content with herself and her situation for once before heading back to her dorm to call it a night.

She flopped onto her bed, kicking off her boots and hat before sitting up. It wasn't too late yet, and Brooke figured she had some time before she needed to head over to the Head Master Building for some dinner.

Going over to her desk, Brooke rummaged through her drawers until she found her quill and ink jar, to which she set on the table. She then grabbed her spell book, ripping out a blank page and slapped it on the desk.

She dipped her quill in her bottle of ink, aiming to practice using the pen once more. She wrote a few simple sentences.

_There was a cat._

_See here the dog._

_Jim waved to Sally._

Well, it looked a lot better than it did yesterday, at least she could make out **some **letters. With an irritated huff, she threw the piece of crumpled paper behind her to a pile of other pieces of paper. She would have to talk to Gamma about getting a trash can or something in here.

Ripping out another piece of paper, Brooke was about to start again when a note appeared on her desk. This was her calling card that it was time to eat, and with a few minutes to get back on her boots and hat, she lit a candle that sat on her desk and headed out of her room. Little did she know that she was being watched as she left Raven Wood.

* * *

**Hello everyone again! **

**So because Summer is almost over and I'm going to be leaving for College at the end of this month, I've decided to release two more chapters this month so that you'll all have something to read while I'm occupied with school. **

**After August, I'm returning to my earlier schedule of once a month so that It'll give me time to get a chapter done amidst all of the chaos. **

**Expect new chapter updates on the 15****th**** and 22****nd****!**


	8. Ambush

**Chapter 8: Ambush**

Dinner was simple, not the extravagant feast like it was her first day, but she was fine with that. Gamma asked a few more questions about how things were doing, and to the book Brooke answered the same way each time. She was starting to get used to the insanity of this world, but she still wanted to go home.

After dinner was over and only the moon hung in the sky, Brooke left the Head Master's building intent on hopping into bed and sleeping the rest of the night away. She would have to, if she didn't hear a voice sing warily through the air.

_Oh little child of mine,_

_Dry your eyes of tears._

_Trust me, you will be fine,_

_Let me hold you tight, my dear._

Who was singing at this hour? And in the open too, which Brooke gave points for because she could never do such a thing. She looked out to the pond, seeing the source of the voice and who she didn't think she'd see again.

It was that girl from her first day, the one who tried to put out the fire. What was her name again, Scarlet? Her back was towards Brooke, as if she didn't hear her come out of the building. Why was she singing out here all alone?

_Many trials you will face,_

_And I won't always be here._

_But I'll give you sweet embrace,_

_Let me hold you tight, my dear._

She sounded…so lonely. So sad. Without thinking, Brooke felt her voice escape her lips. "Hey."

Scarlet turned around and got up with a quickness Brooke didn't think was possible, seeing her threatened eyes. Without another word, she ran off.

"H-Hey!" As if her body had its own mind, Brooke felt herself running after Scarlet. She didn't know why she was chasing after this student, but something inside of her felt the need to talk to her. That is, if she could catch up.

Knowing her way around, Scarlet ran towards the clump of buildings behind the pond. She almost lost Brooke in the midst of the houses, but she caught her trail again when she noticed her robes quickly disappear behind one building. "Wait! I just want to talk!"

"Leave me alone!"

After going behind the building, Brooke found herself alone in a tight corner with only a bush near the cobblestone wall. She looked up, wondering if Scarlet somehow was able to climb the house, when the bush beside her rustled a bit. "A-hah!"

Brooke pulled back the bush; disappointed that Scarlet wasn't in it. Instead, a hole big enough for a student awaited to who knows where. It had been carved into the cobblestone wall, and it looked man-made. Ok, this was starting to get silly, but Brooke could feel the call of adventure beckoning. With a groan she got down and crawled through the hole. 'Why am I doing this.'

The man-made hole was a bit tight for Brooke, and she cursed her size with each passing breath until she finally saw moonlight at the end of the tunnel. She wiggled her way out, starting to help herself up before being bashed back down.

Brooke painfully fell on her side, feeling herself close to tears. The figure that pushed her stepped out of its hiding spot. "**Why** are you following me?"

It was Scarlet, now holding her wand and had it pointed at Brooke. Her look of fright was gone and replaced with a look of no mercy. Brooke tried getting up, but Scarlet moved her wand closer to Brooke. "Don't move!"

"Ok, ok!" Brooke put her hands in the air, signifying that she wasn't going to do anything.

"Who sent you? Was it Malistaire? Are you part of the K.O.M?"

Scarlet pushed her wand closer to Brooke, prompting her to scramble back a few steps. "What, no! I don't even know what they look like!"

"What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

Brooke put her hands in front of her face, looking away. "Look, I just wanted to talk!"

"A likely story! No one ever wants to talk to me."

"Gee, I wonder why!"

Scarlet looked to Brooke's defiant form, as Brooke just looked away in fear. Seeing that she wasn't a threat, Scarlet lowered her wand.

Brooke took this indication to get up, only to watch Scarlet walk off. "You're pathetic."

Ok, Brooke was tired of being called names. "Excuse me? I'm the pathetic one? At least I don't go waving a wand in everyone's face who tries to get close!"

Scarlet stopped and turned back to Brooke, piercing her confidence and leaving nothing but fright with just the look in her eyes. Brooke stood firm though, even though her legs started to shake.

"Why were you following me?"

"I told you, I wanted to talk." Brooke closed her eyes and raised her hands a bit. "But you know what? Forget it! I can see why no one reaches out to you!"

Brooke turned and was intent on leaving. That was the last time she would ever listen to her gut. However. "Wait!"

Brooke stopped, turning her body around as Scarlet had a hand out. "Talk about what?"

Brooke shrugged. "I don't know. I heard you singing earlier, you sounded sad."

Scarlet's eyes went from curious to cold in a second. "You were spying on me?"

Brooke put her hands out again; frightened that Scarlet might do something. "N-No! I was leaving the Head Master's building when I heard you singing, that's all. It's not that hard to hear when you're the only person out at night."

"Hm."

For someone who at first wouldn't hesitate to harm Brooke, now all the sudden seemed confined to her feelings and closed off. She was curious enough to stick around, but Brooke knew if she made a wrong step somewhere, Scarlet could attack.

Brooke finally took a breath of air, trying to calm herself down. "I don't get you. You want me gone; now you want me around? What's with that?"

"Tch, I don't have to explain my reasoning to you. You don't know me."

"Apparently enough to say that you're pretty paranoid." Brooke knew she would regret this and outstretched her hand. "Come on. You want to find a place to talk?"

Scarlet looked to Brooke's hand with almost disgust, before looking back up to the owner of the digit. Brooke tried putting forth her best smile, hoping to win the teen over. She knew what it was like to have a hard-outer shell, and quite frankly she was curious to know who Scarlet really was.

When her smile didn't falter, Scarlet's eyes did. They almost looked confused, as if she was struggling with an inner battle inside of her. For a moment, Brooke felt as though she'd take the offer.

"There she is. Do you have a clear shot?"

"Yes."

"Wait! There is someone with her!"

"This is our only chance! Scarlet doesn't come out often, and we cannot fail! We can always take out the girl to, if we have to."

"Hush, before they hear us! I need to concentrate…"

Brooke saw Scarlet's hand come up, wavering to take Brooke's. Brooke gave a reassuring smile to her. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

Finger tips almost touched. That's when Brooke noticed something out of the corner of her eye, and before she could speak she just tackled Scarlet to the ground. "Look out!"

Both girls fell over each other, Brooke looking up just to see a flaming arrow wiz past their heads and strike a nearby tree, setting it aflame. Scarlet pushed Brooke off of her, getting up to look where the arrow came from. "I knew it! You're part of them!"

"Part of what?!" Brooke got back up, only to witness three figures dash out of there hiding spot, weapons raised. One of them had a bow with a quiver strapped to its back, a flaming arrow in the hold. The other two held swords.

"It's over, FrostBringer!"

Scarlet took a step back, bringing her wand out once more. "You won't take me!"

As quick as they came, the three robbed figures dashed towards Scarlet. Brooke wanted to run, but she felt stuck in her petrified fear.

"Move it!" Brooke was rudely awoken from her state of fear when Scarlet pushed her down and sprinted off.

Brooke turned back to see the oncoming members, whom were getting very close by now. With fright she brought her knees to her chest and put her hands above her head. She stayed like that for a few seconds, shaking and wondering when it would be over. When nothing happened, she looked up just to see one of the members jumping over her small body, and the three paid no mind to her since.

She watched them go after Scarlet and disappear into the trees several yards away. Brooke didn't know what to say, what to do. This was the second time her life had almost been taken away from her, and it left her in pieces.

She got up, turned away and started walking to where the hole was. 'Calm down Brooke. It's over. They weren't after you. Soon you'll be in your bed, you can forget about this, and then you can go home.'

Her frame stopped though to turn back and glance at where Scarlet and the assassins disappeared into. She could see flashes of light here and there, as soft wisps of black smoke came from some of the trees. It wouldn't be long before that small smoke became a forest fire.

Wait a second. What was she doing?! Could she honestly be ok with leaving someone here to get wiped out, even if it wasn't her problem?! She was small, she was sensitive, and by this world's definition, a poor excuse of a wizard. But that shouldn't stop her from trying to do something. Every part of her mind screamed for her to leave for her own safety, but instead she chose to ignore it and ran into the forest.

She just hoped she wasn't too late on her decision.

"Scarlet? Scarlet!" Brooke jogged through the forest, calling out her name whenever she could as she avoided burning bushes and half-lit trees on the way. There was so much destruction.

"Scarlet! Where are you?! Scar-!" Brooke ran past a tree, attempting to call out once more when a hand struck out and grabbed her mouth. Another hand grabbed her body and pulled a struggling Brooke down and into a bush.

She tried getting free, but stopped when she noticed her captor was one pissed Scarlet. "You are going to get me **killed**!" She harshly whispered.

Her hand stayed on Brooke's mouth. "If I let you go, will you stop screaming like a banshee, and **leave?**"

Brooke thought on her proposal for a moment, before shaking her head. "I'm not leaving, I'm here to help!" She tried whispering the words, but all Scarlet heard was sloppy mumbles since her hand was still on her mouth.

Figuring Scarlet wasn't going to let up, Brooke did the unthinkable, at least to her, and stuck out her tongue to touch Scarlet's hand. She withdrew quickly, looking to her salvia-covered hand before menacingly back at Brooke. "I'm here to help!"

"I don't need **your **help."

"Come out, FrostBringer! You can't hide in what's being burned to the ground!"

The two teens held their breaths, hearing grass rustle and feet rush by their position. They only breathed again when they knew the assassins had gone another route.

Scarlet looked to Brooke. "Alright, fine. So what spells do you have on hand?"

"Uh." It was then that Brooke realized she had left her card deck back at her dorm. "I, uh… don't have any on me."

Brooke could tell Scarlet was trying to conceal her again, but it was hardly working. "Ok. That's ok. You can just conjure your deck to you with your wand."

Silence.

"You **DO **have your wand with you, **right?**"

Brooke's blank face was nearly enough for Scarlet, but Brooke still put a hand on her face in sheer embarrassment. "It's also…. In the dorm."

"You're pathetic."

Scarlet poked her head out from the bush to survey the area, before ducking back down. Brooke also poked her head out, only to get shoved down by Scarlet. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan is my original plan. I'm going to face these traitors and show them who the better wizard is."

"What about me?"

"What **about** you?"

Brooke was about to retaliate, when a flaming arrow took both their attention off one another and to the K.O.M member standing before them. "Found you!"

"RUN!"

Scarlet rolled out of the bush and got to her feet, making a mad dash. Brooke threw herself out of the bush only to smash her face into the ground, at least she wasn't burned alive though.

The K.O.M member with the arrow chased after Scarlet, while the other two stuck behind for Brooke. "You had the chance to stay out of this, girl! Surrender now and get out of this mess, or suffer by the hands of the K.O.M!"

Brooke stood up, knowing she wasn't at all prepared to take on these two, let alone anyone in her state. She could have surrendered, but she quickly felt a boost of confidence coarse through her. "I will never surrender!"

Reaching behind her, Brooke snapped off a long, frail branch she had spotted before earlier, tossing it in the direction of the K.O.M members. She hoped that with this distraction she could escape. The second one stepped forward however, slicing it in half before it even got close.

"W-Well then." Seeing as how that was a total failure, Brooke just let her fear take over and send her running and screaming farther into the forest.

For a while all Brooke could hear was her screams. The darkness of the night and the light of the wild flames made the forest jump constantly from semi-dark to bright lights. She couldn't see a thing in front of her for the most part, only for the fire to rise again and show her one of the members coming straight for her.

Brooke swerved to the side, ripping a branch off of a tree only to smack the assassin in the back of the head. The figure stopped to rub its head, turning back around to strike Brooke. "Nightmare blade!"

The sword in the figure's hands suddenly glowed grey, allowing Brooke to see it as she moved to the side. The two continued this game of bob and weave, Brooke knowing that if she failed to move quick enough that it might be the end of her. She stumbled backwards with each strike that was directed towards her, grabbing branches from every tree that was near enough and throwing them at the advancing assassin. "Get away from me!"

The branches were easily deflected aside, but some did hit the figure. Soon it was enough for them to hold their hands up to protect there face "H-Hey! Cut that out!"

Blindly the figure lunged at Brooke, and from then on time seemed to slow down for her. Instinct took over and in a desperate attempt to disarm the assassin; she threw her hands onto the hilt of the sword, wrestling the other member's hands off. Once free, Brooke brought her foot up and into the member's stomach, pushing them into the ground. It was only then when time seemed to revert to normal.

The figure fell on their rear, shocked and surprised by the sudden move, as Brooke tossed the sword away. It only took her a few seconds to finally realize her actions. "I did that?"

"You'll pay for that!"

The figure got up; pulling out what Brooke presumed was a card and a spare wand. "Ghoul!"

A flash of dark light blossomed from the black of the night, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Brooke felt the ground beneath her feet start to give away, and she ran from her spot. The fire came back on, only to have the shadows of an un-dead corpse dance across her frightened body. It rose from the ground without a word, carrying a spade and a look of blank expression. "Seize her!"

* * *

Scarlet let loose a spell, watching as her Ice Beetle scurried over to her opponent. The K.O.M member swerved out of the bug's way, pulling back another arrow and striking the beetle. The monster fell on its back and dissolved away with an eerie hiss.

Scarlet pulled out another card, but it was quickly shot out of her hands. She glanced back to see her card pinned to a tree, only to turn back and see the assassin slam into her. She flew into the tree behind her, falling to her knees. The figure with the bow didn't seem winded, unlike Scarlet. "It's time we end this game of Cat and Mouse!"

"Gang way!"

Both of them looked to the noise, watching as Brooke scrambled from the bushes and past the robed figure. Its eyes followed Brooke, quite confused on why she was running. It all made sense though when a zombie smashed into it.

The two went down, the figure trying desperately to get the zombie off its body, while Scarlet took the time to get back up and run after Brooke. It wasn't hard for her to catch up to her, since Brooke seemed more winded than she did. "Stop messing around!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

The two didn't get far before the last robed figure came down from nowhere. Scarlet braced herself for the worst, but instead the figure went after Brooke, pinning her to a tree. "H-Hey! Get off!"

"You need to **leave.**" The figure brought its face close to Brooke, making her struggle even more. "I can reason with the others to lay off you, but if you stick around any longer, I might not be able to! Please, Brooke, I-"

Brooke stopped all her struggling, the voice from the figure starting to sound familiar. "How did you know my name? Who **are** you?"

The figure, obviously frightened by the slip-up, was about to speak again when a flash of light alerted both of them to something else. "Get away from her!"

An icy blast hit the both of them, making the figure let go of Brooke and back away. Another Snow Serpent was out, hissing at the figure before disappearing. Scarlet pulled out another card, her breath heavy. "Evil Snowman!"

"Thermic Shield!"

In a blink of an eye, the robed figure put out its arms just as the Snowman came towards it. A giant Ice shield came between the two, stopping the knife from reaching its mark. However the robed figure did recoil a bit from some of the blow the shield could not protect, but not nearly as bad as it would have been without it. The shield disappeared. "I am also trained in Storm, FrostBringer."

Scarlet huffed, anger coursing through her frightened veins. Her core was getting weaker with each spell, how much longer could she last like this? Brooke scrambled behind Scarlet, noticing the other two figures emerge from the burning forest. It was also at this point that Brooke realized it was starting to get harder to breath from all the thick smoke.

"It's over, Scarlet. You put up a good fight, now die with some honor!"

The figure, who had talked to Brooke earlier, now seemed reluctant to do anything to stop them. The second figure had found its sword once more, and an arrow was pointed their way. Scarlet starred down the one with the bow. "You won't get away with this."

"When the Master wants someone to disappear, we make them disappear. It's nothing personal; you've just been getting in the way for far too long."

Brooke felt herself grip onto Scarlet's robes, scared out of all senses. Is this how she was going to go? In some distant universe, far away from home, just because she decided to play hero? 'I guess I'm not going home anymore...'

As if the things set in motion were impossible to change, another figure suddenly dropped from above and into the playing field. It stood between the girls and the assassins, wand out. "Banshee!"

The three assassins covered their eyes to the light, before being blasted away by the scream of the ghostly gal. They fell to the ground, but got back up quickly and dashed towards the new player.

Anticipating the move, the figure side-stepped the third member, ripping the blade from its hands before using it to block a blow from the other swordsman. "Seraph's light!"

The new player struck the glowing, green sword into the ground, twisting it to open a long crack in the dirt and let the light from inside out. Vines sprang out from the crack, writhing in wait before striking at the K.O.M members.

Brooke couldn't believe her eyes, but Scarlet was more skeptical. She used this time to pull out another card, taking a deep breath. "Blizzard!"

The spell activated, releasing a giant gust of harsh, icy wind and ice into the forest. The trees that once were alit were quickly put out thanks to the spell and left the forest charred, but still up. Brooke took a deep breath, knowing it was ok to breathe again before noticing the second K.O.M member sneaking up behind them. "Scarlet!"

In a crazy act to stop the figure, Brooke smashed into the robed figure to bring them down before it came close to Scarlet. She laid on top of the squirming member. "Get off me!"

"Not until you stop trying to kill us!"

With a quick hand, the member was able to force Brooke off, brandishing its sword. It faltered however when it noticed its other two members down, beaten, and unable to battle. Noting the others had taken their attention off it, the figure silently sneaked back into the charred forest.

"Are you ok?"

Brooke, down on the ground and sore, looked to the open hand that was extended to her. The warm face immediately struck a chord in her memory. "Ben?"

The teen smiled, helping Brooke up. "That's me."

"Bu-But… how…"

Ben shrugged. "Well, I was out on a nightly stroll when I saw you leave your dorm. I thought maybe we could have chatted, but the next thing I knew, you were gone. I only picked up your trail again when I heard you screaming beyond one of the stone walls and found the secret entrance here."

Brooke didn't know if she should have felt thankful that Ben saved their lives, or disturbed that Ben was 'stalking' her for some of the night. "Well jeez, thanks man."

She glanced over to Scarlet, gesturing a hand. "You know Scarlet?"

Both of them turned to Scarlet, who had her back towards them. Ben looked nostalgic. "You could say I did."

He walked over to her, extending a hand. "It's good to see you again, Scarlet."

"ShadowBrand." She did not justify her response with a glance, but a quick glare. Ben quickly took his hand away.

Brooke had half a mind to ask what the history was between them, but the sounds of the other two members waking up became more important. Ben and Scarlet also turned to the noise, as Ben used his wand once more. "Chains of truth!"

The symbol of death blazed forth to be quickly replaced with rusty chains. They sped out from the wand, heading straight towards the two robed figures. Struggle as they did, the chains were able to hold them down and unable to move. The chains glowed faintly.

"Fools! You think you can hold us with mere cha-!" The figure then slumped over, groaning as if the chains had just tightened.

Brooke was quite confused on the whole ordeal, but Ben and Scarlet paid no mind at the moment. "Who are you? Why did you attack Scarlet?"

The two figures struggled, as if the answer was trying to bubble out of them. Finally one of them broke. "Be-Because we were ordered to!"

"By **who?**" Scarlet walked over to the now harmless figures and pulled off their hoods. The first figure, a boy, was someone Brooke had not seen before. The other one however…

"Morgan?!"

Morgan looked up when she heard her name to see a devastated Brooke. She looked away without an answer.

Ben wasn't ok with that though. "Morgan? You're one of the K.O.M?"

His face transformed from shock to disgust. "Were you caught up in the house fire yesterday?! How could you do this?!"

By then Morgan couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer thanks to the chains, and she reared her face at the scornful Ben with her own anger. "You don't understand! Professor Wu will never replace Professor Sylvia; will never replace anything that's happened! Malistaire promises to make things right!"

"Through terrorism? Do you actually think you're **helping **people?!" It was Scarlet who said that, pushing her way through Ben. "Now answer my question; who sent you?!"

Morgan turned her face away, forcing her voice down. The other member couldn't though. "It was Nightmare Wraith! Wraith was the one to order the hit!"

"Nightmare Wraith? Here?" Scarlet looked away for a second, as if to contemplate the situation. Brooke wasn't really following any of this, but then again she was too hurt to care. There sat her first friend, the one who told her to not be afraid. And yet she was one of many who were instilling it.

Ben noticed the glow of the chains wear off, and with it the two students seemed more drained of their energy. "The spell is going to wear off soon. I'm going to turn these two in to Gamma."

"Wait, wasn't there a third one?" Brooke asked, her eyes darting through the dark forest.

"Guess that one got away. No harm though, eventually there buddy will be caught." Ben ushered the two up, leading them away from the spot.

"Please, don't turn us in!" The boy cried, but Ben wasn't in the mood to listen. Morgan went without another word, but she did turn back to look at Brooke. Her eyes were so full of hurt and mistrust.

Brooke just turned her body away from Morgan and didn't watch as they left. Her anger was gone, her confidence, gone. All that was left was an empty, sad husk.

Scarlet didn't seem to pay attention to Brooke's apparent emotion, and she wondered if it was worth coming out here to even help. She didn't do anything, and now she had to live with the fact that one of her good friends here was apparently a monster.

"Guess I'll see you around." Brooke muttered, taking a quick glance at Scarlet. She then started to leave, waiting until she could get back to her dorm to start crying.

"Hey."

Brooke stopped, watching as Scarlet walked over to her. Her eyes were still as icy as before, but something about them was different. "Tomorrow afternoon, at the tree near the pond in the Commons."

And with that she left. Brooke stood there for a few seconds, contemplating her words. What was that? Did Scarlet want to see her again?

With a small smile for quite possibly a new friend, Brooke jogged after Scarlet to catch up. After all, she didn't know the way out when there was barely any light. But as she left, a robed figure watched from a safe place.

"Ben ShadowBrand. I won't forget you…"

* * *

**Hey everyone! **

**Just to let you know I have a poll up over on my Profile for this Story, so go check it out if you haven't seen it yet! **

**Also again, thank you for all of the reviews and favorites and follows! They really brighten up my day when I see a new one! **


	9. A Hero is Born

**Chapter 9: A Hero is Born**

After last night, Brooke felt very numb to her surroundings the next day. She idly tapped her quill on her open spell book, semi-paying attention to what was happening in class.

Professor Falmea had stepped aside to let one of her other students write a few things on the board, as she watched with her ever-preying eyes. Brooke knew she might have to write some of this down, but what was the point? It'd be garbage soon enough and she didn't have any care to do so.

"And that's how you defeat a rampaging Troll with just your wits and determination." The student stepped away from his handiwork, a bit proud of his knowledge. Half of the students looked bored however, which made his genuine smile falter to a disappointed frown.

Professor Falmea stood up. "Interesting, if I do say so myself. You may sit back down in your seat, Adam."

Adam turned to his professor, bowing his head in respect. "Thank you, Professor Falmea."

He then returned to his seat, which just so happened to be in front of Brooke. As Professor Falmea conjured the eraser to erase Adam's work, he took the time to lean back in his chair to see Brooke. "What did you think? Pretty strategic, huh?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I guess." Brooke glanced up to Adam, but didn't pay much attention. She played with the quill in her hand, contemplating Morgan's betrayal and how much it stung.

"Anyways, I was thinking maybe you and I could-."

Before Adam could make his proposal, a Chinese gong went off in the room, startling Adam to fall back into his chair. Brooke was woken up by her thoughts, thankful that the class was over. The tall Professor addressed her students as they rushed out. "Don't forget to study for your test next time! I'll know who studied and who cheated, trust me."

Brooke packed her book, looking up to see Adam had still hung around. They weren't too good of friends by Brooke's definition, but he was someone she could talk to from time to time in class.

He smiled when Brooke made eye contact. "Anyways, as I was saying. Some of the guys and I are going to hit the Faire grounds this afternoon, it'll be a lot of fun. Want to come? From the way you've been looking, I say you might need some cheering up."

Just her, some guy she just met and a bunch of strangers at a carnival. It didn't sound like the fun Brooke was used to, but maybe she did need something to cheer her up. "Well…"

"Brooke is involuntarily occupied at the moment, Adam."

Both looked over to Professor Falmea, who now sat at her desk. Adam glanced back to Brooke, a bit disheartened that she was busy. "Oh, I didn't know you were staying after."

"Me neither." Brooke shot Professor Falmea a suspicious look, who only gave her a playful face back.

Packing his things in a rather sad mood, Adam left the class room, leaving the two women alone. Brooke folded her arms. "What do you want?"

"Don't you like the gong? I find it rather amusing; it tells me which of my students are actually paying attention. I find it especially funny how they react."

Brooke raised an eyebrow to the young Professor. In return, Professor Falmea gave a sly smile back. "So quick to an answer, you don't even have time to make small conversation?"

"I have classes to study for."

"I highly doubt that."

The Professor got up again, amused by how quick Brooke was to light her fuse. "Settle down, I was only merely teasing. I did need to see you for something."

She walked over to Brooke, pulling a card out of thin air. "Don't ask me how, but a little bird told me you might need this soon."

She handed the card to Brooke, who hesitated to take the item in her hand. When she did, she noticed it was a higher level spell, with the picture of a red bird on it. "Thanks?"

"No need for thanks. I'll take it when you actually mean it later. And this isn't a free gift; I will want that card back after you are through with it."

Soon after receiving the card, Brooke left the building to continue her day. She figured she had a few more hours before the afternoon, and she didn't have another class until half an hour later. She felt the card in her robe pocket though, as if it card itself gave off a faint, warm glow. She was getting used to the fact that weird stuff like this happened here, but that didn't mean she still wasn't confused when it did happen.

"Going off to skip another class?"

Brooke heard the voice and recognized it, but chose to ignore the student behind her. Instead, she continued her walk away from the Fire building, hoping she wasn't following. She was wrong.

"Hey, did you hear me? Then again, I guess I was expecting too much from such a Dull Blood Bat."

"Go away, Susan." Brooke stopped her walk when the girl from earlier came in front of her. Brooke hoped to scare her off with a threatening glare, but apparently it wasn't powerful enough and came off as a frustrated look.

The girl in front of her had her red blazing hair up in a pony tail, which she hid under her Orange and Blue hat. Similar colors adorned her robes, and her yellow eyes sparked to see the annoyed Brooke. Susan TrollShield; one of Professor Drake's more 'promising' students and the creator of her fetching nickname.

Brooke just looked away when her glare failed to make Susan leave. "You know, I hear students who skip too often get expelled from the premises. I know you're new to this school, so I'll say this slowly. Students. Need. To. Go. To. Class. In. Order. To. Pass. See, I even made it rhyme so that you could remember it better."

Brooke didn't dignify Susan with a comment, hoping to just leave her in her dust. It was bad enough she didn't belong here, but being bullied as well was like icing on top of her pile of garbage for a cake.

She tried moving past Susan, but the teen wouldn't budge. "Hey, I'm trying to help you here. I wouldn't want you missing another one of Professor Drake's classes."

"Why bother, I bet you two make fun of me even when I'm not there." Brooke found an opening and took it, swiftly passing the barrier that was Susan and continuing her walk.

Susan didn't stop though and quickly caught up. "True, but it's not as fun when you aren't there. Where were you even raised, I've never seen such a slow Student."

"Aw come on, Susan, leave her be."

The two stopped, looking up to notice a thick, heavy storm cloud above them. However, unlike the other clouds that floated thousands of feet above the ground, this one was only a few feet and held the lounging body of a young male.

He seemed content in his relaxation on that cloud, but stopped and sat up to the conversation. "Everyone learns differently. I seem to recall that you were once slow too back when you first came to this school."

"Of course I was. I was like 10 when I joined. That's no excuse for her though." Susan put her hands on her hips. "She's almost a teen."

"I **am **a teen."

"See? Even more reason to get on her about it."

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just saying, it's not nice to tease someone about their faults. How would you like it if someone did that to you?"

"Pfft, whatever." Susan, done with her bulling, decided to leave the two for her own schedule. Brooke watched her leave, feeling the urge to run up to her and give her a good kick in the rear.

"Don't worry; it gets better once you start understanding the material." Brooke looked up the boy, who went back to lying in his cloud.

His brown, spiked hair was messily nested underneath his purple and red hat. Like Susan, his robes matched his hat's colors, and his brown eyes rested on Brooke. "My name's Chase IronBreeze by the way, what's yours?"

Brooke looked to the lazy boy, her mind still in her threatened mode. If he knew Susan, then he was trouble as well. She dignified his warm welcome with a cold shoulder, walking away. She had one bully problem; she certainly didn't want another with someone trying to be her 'friend'.

She could hear him get up for a second, before hearing a faint, 'whatever' and the sound of the cloud being flattened back down. Yeah, that's what she thought.

Getting to the middle of Raven Wood, Brooke was disappointed to see Arthur not in his usual spot. Guess he was teaching a lesson at the moment, as Hunter didn't seem to be around either.

Brooke was about to go into her dorm before anyone else could bother her, but apparently she was too late in her thinking. "There you are!"

Brooke turned to the noise of stomping feet, seeing Tara and Bruticus come towards her. Students scrambled out of the way of the giant feet, lest they get accidentally stepped on, though Bruticus seemed to already be watching his step.

Tara ran to Brooke, hugging her immediately the second she got close. Brooke loved hugs, but not when they were from complete strangers. "H-Hello…"

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Tara let go of her grip for the moment, looking troubled. "However, I didn't know your name, so it was hard to ask for you! What was it again?"

"Uh, Brooke."

Tara blinked, before flashing a playful smile. "Oh, not that part! I never forget a name! I meant your last name!"

"My last name?" It was true; Brooke did have a last name like everyone else. However, with the last names here, hers seemed really out of the blue and she didn't want to attract more attention than she needed.

"Yeah! So what was it?"

Brooke took a long pause, wondering what name to give herself. Well, she wasn't going to be here much longer, so it wouldn't hurt to give herself a last name that corresponded with Fire. After all, everyone thought that was her School. "FireHammer?"

"Brooke FireHammer?" Tara thought on the name for a moment, and Brooke wondered if it was too out there. "Sounds cool to me!"

Brooke felt a sigh of relief on the inside, as she noticed Bruticus. "Hi Bruticus."

"Hello again, Miss Brooke." Bruticus seemed about as interested with her as he did the last time, which wasn't much.

"Talking to Bruce again, are you? Aren't you such a sweet person, acknowledging my Cyclops." Tara laced her words with sweetness, but it tasted sour to Brooke. She couldn't stand the way she talked about Bruticus, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Anyways, my father sent me a care package just the other day, and I've been dying to go on a shopping spree with someone for quite some time! So, I picked you!"

"Picked me?" Brooke didn't sound too thrilled to be taken from her previous schedule to go shopping with this girl, but it didn't seem like she had much choice in the matter. About a few minutes later, she was escorted to the Shopping District with Tara leading the way and Bruticus following behind.

They hit many shops, from trying on hats in the hat store, to checking out necklaces. Eventually the most time they spent was in the robes shop, where Brooke found a place to rest her feet. She wished it was a bench she was sitting on, but she found herself leaning up against the wall of the robes building with her knees close to her chest. Bruticus seemed to be fine with standing right next to the door of the shop.

"You don't want to sit?" Brooke asked, scooting over a bit. "There's clearly enough room for both of us."

"I'm fine standing. Thank you for your concern." Bruticus seemed to actually look down at Brooke this time when he spoke, which peeked her interests.

"You've been standing this whole time. Come on, I know you want to rest those legs." She decided to conduct a small test, to see if she could push him far enough.

Bruticus looked down again, as if to contemplate the situation. "I need to be ready though if something happens to Miss Tara."

"In a robes shop? Come on, it doesn't take long to get back up on your feet. Plus, I don't think anyone's going to try anything while you're hovering around like that. I mean, I wouldn't."

Bruticus gave her a funny look, which made Brooke take back her previous sarcasm. "Not that I would, anyways."

The Cyclops looked to the passing students, before eying Brooke again. She patted the cobblestone next to her, wondering what he'll do. Will he comply?

For a few minutes, that wasn't the case. Finally, however, Bruticus gave a loud sigh and plopped down onto the ground. He had to tuck in his legs all the way just so people could still get by. "See? Doesn't that feel better?"

"It does feel just a bit better."

"Aw come on, don't be shy." Brooke flashed her teasing smile to Bruticus. Now she felt like herself once more, when she could joke and have fun. She hadn't felt that in a while and it felt great.

Bruticus seemed too embarrassed to admit it, but his sigh was all Brooke needed to know that he did like it. "I really shouldn't be doing this. Miss Tara instructed me to wait outside."

"Did she instruct you to _stand_ outside?"

"Well, no…"

Brooke almost put a hand on the giant man's arm, but stopped herself in case he wasn't the touchy type. Instead she just flashed another one of her genuine smiles. "You're too wound up Bruticus. It's ok to have a break once in a while."

"Please, you may call me Bruce if you wish to do so."

"Really? I thought that was a pet name Tara had for you."

"It is, but since you are a friend of Miss Tara, you may call me that if you wish to do so."

Brooke thought on it for a bit, before looking back up to Bruticus. "You know Bruce; I've never met a Cyclops before coming here. I think we're going to be good friends."

"Friends?" Bruce seemed confused and flustered by the gesture, but he didn't have long to think on it. The door of the shop slammed open, which alerted Bruce to stand back up in alert attention. Brooke also got up, upset that the work she had worked so hard to get was immediately gone.

"Well, what do you think?" Tara twirled in her new robes, which included a cape.

"It is very lovely on you, Miss Tara."

"I wasn't talking to you, Bruce." Tara dismissed Bruce's comment, looking directly to Brooke. "Well Brooke? Do I look lovely?"

Brooke was in no mood for flattery, especially after she rudely talked down to Bruce. "Why don't you ask Bruce?"

Tara looked to Brooke as if she was joking with her. "Oh, that's a good one, Brooke. Seriously though, I want an actual opinion."

An actual opinion? Oh she was going to get one. But before Brooke could whip out her colorful vocabulary on what she thought about Tara, a few students rushed past them, talking awfully loud about something.

"I hope we don't miss the fight!"

"Thanks for getting us, Max; we've never seen a K.O.M member before!"

"I know right?! And in broad day light too!"

Fight? K.O.M member? Brooke didn't need to hear anymore before she rushed off into the direction of the fellow students. Tara stood there, shocked. "H-Hey, Brooke, wait! You didn't tell me your opinion!"

Having a knack for speed, Brooke quickly out-raced the other students, running through the tunnel they were eventually heading towards and into the Commons. Another circle of students blocked off the streets in the area, but this circle was much bigger than the last one.

Lights flashed from the middle of the circle, and the closer Brooke got to the middle, the more she could hear the K.O.M member's taunts. "That's what I thought! Weak, all of you!"

Brooke pushed herself deep enough into the crowd of Students until she was in the inner ring. The fighting area was from the tip of the Head Master's building to the other side of the Commons, leaving the tree and pond inside the ring. Next to the pond were two Students, who Brooke quickly identified as Ben and Malorn.

Ben was huddled on the ground, his hat and wand were gone and he looked frightened of what was occurring. His wand was strewn half across the field, along with his hat.

Malorn was on one knee, holding up a death shield just as another spell struck the shield and disappeared. The K.O.M member stood several feet away. "Is this how Wizard City protects itself these days?! By cowering behind shields?!"

"It's you members who are the cowards! Picking on the innocent, you're nothing but terrorists!" The shield disappeared from his arm, allowing Malorn to stand up. However the shield blocked his sight from the advancing member, and soon he was down on the ground thanks to a punch in the jaw.

"Malorn!" Ben made a break for his friend, but the K.O.M member was too close. The member gave a low blow to the stomach, making Ben also fall to the ground.

Slowly, the K.O.M member walked over to where he laid, pounding a boot into his back and leaned on it. "This wouldn't have happened if you useless wizards knew your place! Now us, the Defenders of Order must clean up your filthy mistakes! Starting with this one…"

The crowd cried out in horror. Several students felt the urge to rush in and help, but all were too afraid of the repercussions of harming a member of the K.O.M.

Ben gave out raspy coughs when the robed character put more weight on its foot. "Y-you're all monsters…"

"We're the monsters? I think it's the other way around." Ben looked up to the glowing sword near his face. "This is for my fellow comrades, whom you locked in jail! Goodbye, Ben ShadowBrand!"

"**STOP**!"

Everyone turned to the noise, watching as one lone student ran out into the open field. There wand was raised, but judging by the stance this person had no clue on how to actually use it. She had been seen around the school as an idiot, but now here she stood, the only one to act.

"Brooke, leave!" Ben shot a look to his friend, before feeling the weight of the member come back down on him.

"Silence!"

The K.O.M member relieved some of its weight off of Ben, turning its head to the lone girl. "You, I know you. You're that girl from last night!"

"S-So?!" Brooke could feel her fear overtaking her, her knees knocking together. She had yelled and ran out on pure instinct, but now that she was out there, it made her sick to her stomach. "Release my friend and stop this madness!"

"Or **what**? You're too chicken to even harm me!" The sword went back to being in front of Ben's face. "You're nothing but talk!"

"I…I'll…" By then Brooke could see the wand in front of her trembling and she tried to mask her apparent fear. The whispers from the crowd of students was starting to rise, questioning if this was another stupid attempt on her part. Memories starting swirling inside of her, memories of when she was younger…

Anger flared. "I challenge you to a Wizard Duel!"

If Brooke could have taken back her words, she would have. The whole field hushed to a still silence, even Ben and the robed figure looked shocked. For a full minute, the whole area was silent.

The tension finally broke from the robed figure, who seemed to be chuckling before breaking out into an insane laugh. It pointed a gloved finger Brooke's way. "I accept your challenge!"

The sword was swung away from Ben's face, who had to bury his head into the ground to not get cut from the close shave. Now the blade was pointed in Brooke's direction. "I suggest we do this with the standard battle procedure, to give you a fighting chance."

By this time Brooke really wished her confidence would come back, but she tried to make up her best performance of it still being there. "Y-You'll be the one who needs the chance!"

"We shall see."

Their eyes locked, and if by some invisible force the two were suddenly drawn to the pond in the middle of the field. Brooke tried stopping her feet before she went head first into the water; however that was not the case. Her feet ran into the water, but not into, onto. She looked down to see the crystal, clear water rippling under her boots, no water on her whatsoever.

A flash of light sprang from the middle of the pond, before expanding into a giant circle. The crowd of students roared into a frenzy, watching as the light disappeared to show etches and marks around the two. Brooke could make out a giant circle, with 8 smaller circles inside, 4 on each end. Each circle had its own symbol, and in the middle of the two sat a giant triangle with a spiral inside and a pointer pointing to her.

Brooke had never seen an actual Wizard duel, just only heard of it once by Merle when the two faced Malistaire. She figured the two would just duel it out like last night, but this was totally different than before.

Just as the markings below her had appeared, so did the instinct inside of her tell her that she had limited time to choose a spell. She didn't know this information before, but now it suddenly flooded in like the water below her.

She pulled out her card deck from her pocket, noticing the K.O.M member do the same. Her hands pulled out seven cards from the top, feeling inside of her that she couldn't grab any more than that at the time. She looked to her deck, wondering what spell to choose.

Before she could pick though, she felt as though her time was up, and her cards disappeared from her hands. She watched as the dial changed from her position to her opponent. Brooke looked back up, waiting for the K.O.M member to strike. They didn't. In fact, the dial turned back to her instead.

Brooke was confused on the ordeal, but didn't waste her chance this time and chose a card quickly. The card disappeared from her hands, as well as the deck before her attention went back to the K.O.M member.

Wand raised, she could feel the magic take over her arms as she drew out the Symbol for Storm. "Lightning Snake!"

The symbol flashed away, bringing forth the electrifying serpent. Lightning burst from the creature's mouth, shocking the K.O.M member. They didn't look fazed though. In fact, they looked cocky. "Heh, is that all you got?"

By this time, Malorn had come to. He saw Ben's hand outstretched to him, who had also gotten his hat and wand back during this time, and he took it to help himself up. "What's happening?"

Both of the boys looked over to the Wizard duel, watching as the K.O.M member had summoned a Ghoul. It took some of Brooke's energy, which it gave half of it back to her opponent.

Ben shook his head. "What does she think she's doing?"

Malorn just smiled a vengeful smile. "She's giving the Students hope."

Back at the battle, Brooke summoned an Imp, as her opponent waited another turn. Why did they wait? Couldn't they just keep attacking her?

"That's right, keep attacking me! But it won't do you any good!"

Brooke looked to her cards, noticing beneath her two small balls of light. She also noticed that her opponent also had two balls of light, but she could have sworn that they only had one last time. She decided to ignore it, and casted a Fire Cat.

The feline bounded into the robed figure, and this time they looked a little more worn out. Again however they summoned the Ghoul, who rose from the ground only to take more of her health. "Unlike you, who can only attack, I can heal whenever I damage you!"

The crowd seemed less enthusiastic than before, noticing that Brooke had no chance at beating the K.O.M member. Two people pushed their way to the front, since they had just gotten to the fight.

One of them was Scarlet, who was surprised to see so many people in the Commons when she originally came down to see Brooke. The other was Tara, who used Bruce to make her a path to the front. Coincidentally, both girls ended up next to each other.

"This is terrible! What does Brooke think she's doing?!" Tara looked as though she would bite her nails off in horror, but Scarlet looked more pissed.

"That dirty low-life! As if they didn't have enough." Her eyes fell on Brooke, who looked winded.

"Get out of the way, Dalia!"

Inside the tunnel to the Commons stood all 6 Professors, but one of the teachers stood before the rest and blocked them off. Professor Falmea had her arms outstretched, not allowing the Professors through. "This isn't our battle."

"So you're going to let that monster attack our innocent students?!" Professor Balestrom was hopping mad, trying to get past the tall woman.

Professor Greyrose nodded to Professor Balestrom. "He's right, Dalia. We can't just sit idly and do nothing!"

"We are going to stand by and watch the outcome, and no one shall make a move." Professor Falmea's words were stern and commanding, and her eyes reflected just that.

Professor Drake pushed himself forward, wand out. "Or what will you do, Dalia? I am not afraid to fight you to stop this madness."

Professor Falmea looked to the wand pointed at her face and pushed it aside. "Get that thing out of my space, Cyrus. Hasn't anyone told you not to point wands in people's faces?"

She put her arms down, looking to her fellow upset teachers. "This isn't our fight because this isn't our path. We weren't put here to stop Malistaire's work, but someone was, and now it's time they woke up to that."

With another blow, Brooke felt herself getting very slow and tired. Her frame felt heavy, and it was getting harder to breathe. Her opponent also looked tired, but not nearly as she was. Brooke looked to the K.O.M member. "I should…have thrown… that stupid sword… farther."

"I'm glad you didn't! Do you know how much this thing cost me?"

Bringing back out her deck, Brooke noticed that the Fire Bird was one of the spells to come up. However, it was duller in color than she last saw it, and she felt as though she couldn't cast it at the moment. Her eyes went back to the balls of light, noticing she had one. Hm…

Before she could pick a card, her time was up, and the move went to the K.O.M member. Again they struck with the Ghoul, and with each pull Brooke could feel her fight go with it.

"Do you still wish to challenge me? I can see from the look on your face that you have made a very grave mistake." The K.O.M member's hand outstretched to the group of students watching. "Just look at how much faith your fellow students have in you! Are any of them rushing to your aid?"

Brooke looked in the direction her opponent was pointing too, looking at all of the sad, scared faces. What once was uproar of hope, now dimmed down and died into hopeless silence. "These students know there place! There were many like you, but now there are no more!"

"What are you going to do to them?" Brooke noticed the balls of light were now at two and decided to skip again. The K.O.M member did the same.

"That is none of your business! So long as they stay out of our way, nothing! However, after I'm done with you, I'll finish off your little friend over there; maybe even show these pathetic wizards a thing or two! Show them there place…"

The balls of light were now at three, and Brooke realized she could cast the spell now. She drew it from her hand. "No… you won't!"

Her hand moved to draw the symbol of fire, waiting for the blazing light. Instead, the symbol before her went dim, and crumbled like ashes into the water. Her eyes widened in terror, what happened?

"Aw, did you fizzle? And you were starting to sound so heroic." The K.O.M member drew forth the symbol of death, and Brooke knew she couldn't stand another attack. Fortunately for her, the card fizzled as well. "Tch, you got lucky, but nothing you can do now will save you! I won this battle!"

Brooke looked to her deck, surprised to see the Fire Bird back in her hands. She drew it once more. "Think again!"

The symbol blazed to life, and everyone expected the Fire cat to leap out again. It didn't, instead, four flames on the field came together, creating an X. The crowd suddenly got very active, and the K.O.M member didn't look so confident now. "H-How do you have this card?! You're not even a level 5 pyromancer!"

The giant fireball in the center of the duel blew open to reveal a small bird, just as the picture predicted. It flew towards the opponent, bringing with it a huge blast of fire.

The K.O.M member tried to shield itself, but to no avail. Head spinning, the member crumpled into the water beneath them. Brooke also fell into the water, but she landed on her two feet. She watched as the circle around them dispersed.

The crowd fell silent, then erupted into applaud. The threat was gone and Brooke looked over to Ben, knowing he was safe now. She grinned to see his flabbergasted face.

Her attention then went back to the K.O.M member, who was trying to crawl out of the pond and onto solid ground. The figure hacked and coughed up the contents of the pond, its hood off to show a young male. Frightened, he looked to the advancing Brooke. "Y-You're nothing but a dull Blood bat… who…who are you?"

The boy held his arms up in a weak attempt to protect himself. Brooke couldn't conceal her anger and kicked him in the stomach. He reeled back, clutching his chest as Brooke put her foot on him. "Don't you **ever **call me that!"

She then looked to the crowd, which was still hanging around. They looked upon Brooke, this girl who was once ridiculed for not knowing anything. Now she stood, foot upon one of the oppressors, confident.

It finally donned to Brooke that this threat wasn't going to go away just like that. Someone needed to fight this organization, someone needed to stop this insanity.

Wand raised to the sky, Brooke let the adrenaline rush of the moment come into her head. "My name is Brooke, Brooke FireHammer! And I **will **put an end to the K.O.M! An end to this madness! An end, to Malistaire!"

For a few seconds, everyone fell silent to the spoken words. Then came the cheering. Brooke stayed in her triumphant pose, letting the praise and adoration shower upon her. She would save these worlds.

Ben and Tara looked dumbfounded, as Scarlet looked absolutely horrified. Her calm, cold eyes returned once more though, and slowly she slinked her way out of the crowd. The Professors by then had broken through the barricade, only to see the festivities. They were all confused except one, who just looked to Brooke with pride. "That's my pyromancer."

Three Dark Sprites hid behind a tree, concerned on the declaration. Silently they flew out from behind the tree and towards Raven Wood to deliver the news. Nightmare Wraith would want to hear about this.

Finally, in the background of it all and hidden to the crowd stood one lone man. An owl flew over to his staff, which he rested upon. "I was looking everywhere for you! When did you get in?"

The old man looked to his companion. "Hm? Oh, not too long ago. I was busy enjoying the show." Both of them looked to Brooke. "I think she's ready."

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**I hope you enjoyed these two extra chapters this month! Tale of the Spiral will resume its normal schedule of being updated once a month. (Unless otherwise stated) **

**Until then, catch you later! I'm off to college!**


	10. Underlying Motives

**Chapter 10: Underlying Motives**

"What do you mean I'm expelled?!"

Brooke looked to Merle and Gamma with a mixture of anger and shock, while her hands rested on their desk. She had originally been sitting in the chair across the desk, but the news had flung her out and into a frenzy.

Gamma had put up a wing to protect himself from Brooke's loud yell, as Merle had also backed his face away from the intensity. Gamma put his wing down, puffing up his chest. "Well that's what should happen! Skipping class, failing to turn in assignments! This is an institution, not your own private vacation!"

"Well if you hadn't noticed, I didn't want to be here in the beginning, remember?!"

Merle could almost see the lightning that was dancing off the two, and decided to gently intervene. He gestured a hand over to Brooke, who stepped back. "Now, now. There's no need for hostility."

Brooke, now calmed down, looked to Merle with pleading eyes. "You can't seriously kick me out. I'm the 'Savior of the Spiral', remember?"

"Foretold Savior of the Worlds or not, there are still rules to be followed around here." Merle tapped his staff on the ground, as a pile of messy papers suddenly came together and stacked themselves neatly.

Gamma looked to Brooke, ruffling his feathers in pride. Brooke started to lift up her sleeve, when Merle's staff got in the way. She looked to the old man's stern eyes, and with a sigh, took a seat. "So that's it? I'm done here? I actually want to stay now, and you're letting me go?"

"I didn't say I was expelling you." Merle put down his staff, ruffling through the papers he just fixed up. "However, I can't just let you off the hook that easily."

"Aw come on, I figured there was no point! So what if I get a few F's, it's not like it's going on my permanent record."

"It is **now**, since you decided to stay and become a full student." Gamma almost hissed the words to Brooke, and she just hissed right back. Again, Merle had to intervene.

"Gamma is right, Brooke. As much as I'd love to let this slide, there's just too much to sweep under the rug." He looked up from his rummaging, noticing Brooke's disappointed face. Her eyes couldn't meet his.

The old wizard sighed, putting down the papers for the moment. "Tell you what. There's some trouble brewing over in Unicorn Way, and sadly I've had to close it off from the faculty and students. If you can go investigate and help solve the problem over there, I might just be able to let your first week here 'go missing' and start you off fresh."

Brooke looked up to Merle with a sense of hope, while Gamma's face almost turned green. "Seriously? Thanks, Merle!"

"What did I tell you about not calling him that?" Gamma huffed.

"I can call him whatever I want!" Brooke looked as though she'd get out of her seat again, but she stayed in her spot.

Merle picked back up his papers. "Actually Brooke, it would be better if you did call me by my title." He then winked. "But only in the public eye, ok?"

Brooke smirked to the old man's words. "Alright."

She then got up, grabbing her spell book that she had put beside her chair. "So what, do I get started now?"

"The sooner the better!" Merle then waved his hand, as a scroll appeared within it. He handed it to Brooke. "Take this to the guard outside of the Gate and he'll let you through."

Brooke took the scroll, looking to her book. "So, doesn't this mean I'm skipping more class just by doing this favor?"

"Well, you don't have to be over there 24/7. Just try to help out when you're free, preferably when you're not supposed to be in class."

With a wave and a smirk, Brooke left the Head Master's building to go on with the day. Gamma just sighed when she left. "I regret the decision to bring her to this universe."

"Oh come now, you two seem to be on the right path for a great friendship." Gamma just looked to Merle with an annoyed face, as the old wizard couldn't help but chuckle at his companion's reaction.

* * *

Turning back the clock to the night before, a lone figure waits in an old, destroyed tower. They look to the red sky from a window, not caring for the ruined civilization below it or the flowing lava.

The only door in the room suddenly shakes from a knock, to which the figure turns to. "Come in."

The door creaks open, letting in three Dark Sprites. They fly through the giant circle of the room, passing by pillars. They go past one pillar as sprites, only to run out as three K.O.M members. They stop before the figure, quickly kneeing and getting back up. "The others are here. Shall we escort them in?"

"No need for escort."

The four turn to the voice, as 6 other K.O.M members wait by the open door. Unlike the lower K.O.M members, this group had their own attire and theme for their disguise.

One of them, whose black robes were etched with golden lines, accompanied by purple at the ends, stepped forward. Golden bells jingled from the ends of their hood, which split off into two parts to resemble a jester's hat. A white mask hid its face with one purple eye, one gold eye, and the smile of the mask split off into opposite colors for each eye. "We let ourselves in. After all, we're all friends here."

The three lower K.O.M members looked to their leader for orders, but instead the leader gestured them out. They did as they were instructed, leaving the 7 of them alone.

"It's been awhile since we've been called from our worlds." One of them, whose robes were simpler than the rest, spoke out. The hood of this robe curled up and above the figure's head, while orange horns came from the head area. The end of the hood was also an orange/yellow color while the robe itself was a cream color, and the short sleeves made way for long brown gloves. "This better be good, Nightmare Wraith."

The leader, Nightmare Wraith, only gestured to the fellow members to sit. 7 pillows were placed in the middle of the room, encircling a small stone pedestal that could easily sit a person. Nightmare Wraith took a seat while the others followed suit. "Trust me, it is."

"I hope it is! I was in the middle of a war meeting when I got summoned! Without me, my soldiers are lost on what to do in Grizzleheim!" This robed figure wore a red knight's helmet over its hood, with black horns that curled down and towards the opening. Shoulder blades and a chest plate adorned its robes, which split off into pant legs. They also wore brown, curled shoes.

"Always battles with you, Major Helephant. You're like a little child, who's too hyped up on its plastic soldiers." The jester member commented. Its eerie smile bore into the other member. "Of course, eventually those toy soldiers will melt away into nothing."

"You shut your mouth, Krazy Kraken! I don't patronize you on how you run your world!"

As the two continued to bicker, one of the other members looked to the other two beside it. The one to its far left, with the spiral hood, vine-like sleeves and trench coat for a robe, sat lovingly next to the other member, whose outfit was a traditional Mooshu robe with a blindfold over the mask and long black hair tied up into a small bun.

The one observing this wore a dark blue snow jacket over its black robe and a pair of ski goggles. "You two make me sick."

The trench coat member looked over to the Snow Member, as the Mooshu member just hugged its partner's sleeve tighter. "You're just jealous you don't have a relationship like we do."

"Oh yes. Like I would want to be as embarrassing as you two."

"Enough!"

The other members settled down, looking to Nightmare Wraith. "I did not call forth this meeting for childish bickering."

"Then why did you call it? The longer we're here, the longer we're away from our worlds, and therefore wasting our time." The orange one spoke with a tone of impatience. Like Nightmare Wraith, their voices also sounded out of this world to obviously hide their identities.

Wraith shot a glance in the member's direction, but they did not back down. Instead, Nightmare Wraith decided to get along with the Schedule. "We may have a threat on our hands, my fellow members. The 'Savior of the Spiral' is upon us."

"What makes you say that?" The blind-folded one spoke up.

"Were you not there when it happened?"

"I think we all were."

The 7 looked to each other uneasy, knowing that all of them were there yesterday when the event occurred. Who each of them were was the unsettling part.

"I think you're too paranoid on this one, Nightmare Wraith. She's just a new student, a cocky one at that." The orange one retorted.

"I love squishing cocky low-lives." Krazy Kraken spoke again, making Major Helephant shush them in its direction.

"She's got potential, I can feel it. Master Malistaire spoke of a girl that he met a week ago whom Merle claimed to be the one, and I think this is her."

"Of course he talks to you the most…"

The room got silent, and each member looked to one another again. Nightmare Wraith seemed unfazed. "Of course he would. I am his Herald. Whatever he demands, I see through."

"I wonder how long that will last." Again, the orange one spoke, which made Nightmare Wraith look in its direction.

"Care to enlighten us with those thoughts, Mighty Minotaur?" The tone was threatening, as if to test them to try and act out.

"I'm good."

"I say we get rid of her right now, before she gets too far." Krazy Kraken rubbed its leather gloves together. "I can always do the honors if no one else has the guts."

"We are not killing her!" Major Helephant cried out, which raised the other's suspicion.

"Oh? Do you know her?" Krazy Kraken looked over to Major Helephant's direction. "Please do tell."

"I don't know her! I just think there's a better solution than axing her off now."

Mighty Minotaur nodded in Major Helephant's direction. "I say we keep an eye over her and then if she does start to interfere, we take it from there."

"I still say we should take care of her now."

Nightmare Wraith looked over to the other three members. "Do you three have any objections to this?"

The trench coat member looked to its companion, who spoke for them both. "We are fine with this."

The snow member just shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, Nightmare Wraith. However, she is in my world now, so I might have to interfere if she gets too ambitious."

"Agreed. Until then, I'll personally take it upon myself to see if I can stop this threat before it becomes one."

The others looked to Nightmare Wraith. Krazy Kraken gestured a hand. "Care to enlighten us on the plan?"

"That is none of your concern." Nightmare Wraith then got up. "By the way, I have heard reports of some of your men being captured a few days ago, Lord Titan."

The snow member, now being addressed, bowed its head. "I know. You unfortunately came upon one of my weaker divisions when you came to visit. Trust me, the rest of my men are far more superior than what you have seen."

Mighty Minotaur seemed a bit intrigued by this conversation, but turned its head away when Nightmare Wraith looked in its direction. "See to it that your followers don't get caught so easily again."

"Understood."

With the meeting coming to a close, Nightmare Wraith turned to the rest of the members, raising its arms. "I disband this meeting. Return back to your worlds and await further instructions."

All 6 got up, bowing their heads. "Yes, Nightmare Wraith."

Silently, the 6 walked out one by one, until Nightmare Wraith was left alone. As the other members started their way down the tower, Krazy Kraken snaked its way over to Mighty Minotaur. "Nightmare Wraith seems a bit testier today. I just adore how you antagonize our leader."

"Hmph, I say Wraith deserves it. I question our leader's motives sometimes."

Lord Titan walked over to the two. "Don't we all."

* * *

After returning the card and attending another nightmare of a class, Brooke finds herself exiting the Fire Building to find Ben waiting outside. "Ben?"

Ben, apparently in his own world before, suddenly jumps at Brooke's voice to turn to her. "Oh, hey Brooke."

"Why were you waiting here?" It's not like Brooke didn't want to see her friend, it was just weird to see him hanging around the Fire building.

"Well…" For a moment, Ben seemed flustered. "What you did yesterday… it really made me stop and think about our situation. I never thought the K.O.M could be beat before, but after that fight…"

Brooke put a hand on her hip. "What are you talking about? You took out two of them back when Scarlet and I were about to be roasted!" Suddenly a thought occurred to Brooke. "Oh man, Scarlet! I never met up with her yesterday!"

As Brooke stood there in guilt, Ben took another step forward, which alerted Brooke back into the present. "Do you really think you can beat Malistaire?"

For a moment, there eyes were connected. Brooke could see the fear in his eyes and a lost sense of hope. She just smirked back. "I think I can."

"Then that settles it." Ben put a hand to his chest, looking Brooke straight in the eyes once more. "I want to help you, Brooke."

"Help me?" Did the prophecy ever talk of more than one person? The extra help could be nice, but then again she didn't want to endanger Ben. His expression though told her she couldn't change his mind. "Uh, alright."

The more Brooke thought on it, the more fun it sounded to have someone to help. "You know what? Yeah, this'll be awesome!"

Brooke brought her hand up, to which Ben high-fived. Ben has joined Brooke's Party! He smiled to her. "You won't regret this Brooke, I promise!"

"I don't think I will." Brooke then remembered the scroll in her pocket, glancing to it before back at Ben. "Now that you're my new partner in crime, ready to take on your first mission?"

* * *

**Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend!**

**I know this chapter is a lot shorter than the normal amount I put out, but I needed this chapter to finally introduce the main antagonists to Brooke's Story. Who are these robed students? Why are they working for Malistaire? Will Major Helephant ever get to order his troops around?**

**Am I bad at describing people? Luckily for you I actually sketched out the 7 members and you can view them over at my Deviantart account. **

****Edit Edit: OTL This thing will not let me put any URL in this whatsoever, so just go to my profile and the link is there. You'll find it in my newest stuff. What the heck Fanfiction ****

**Thank you for the continued favorites, reviews and follows guys! You make working on these stories a lot more fun. : D**


	11. Unicorn Way

**Chapter 11: Unicorn Way**

"Ok, I seriously regret becoming the hero now!"

Brooke held her head in her curled position, trying to protect herself as Ben ran in front of her. "Death Shield!"

A shield appeared a few inches from his extended hand, blocking the blow that there opponent had just cast. The shield dissolved away, showing the two skeletal warriors they were fighting.

Ben turned to Brooke, extending a hand. "What happened to that enthusiasm a few minutes ago?"

"That was before the undead tried killing me! Watch out!" Brooke then pushed Ben down, whipping out her wand to block another attack. However, she didn't draw fast enough and her wand was zapped out of her hands. It cluttered on the ground a few feet away as Brooke rubbed her burned hand. "Ow!"

She looked up in time to move her head from one of the Skeleton's swords, which struck the ground with a clash. Ben got himself back up, drawing out the symbol of Death. "Banshee!"

The card activated, unleashing the spirit and striking down the one attacking Brooke. She took the time to grab her wand, quickly drawing out the symbol of Storm. "Lightning Snake!"

The snake burst into reality, taking out the other warrior. Ben sighed and brushed off his robes before looking over to Brooke. "You alright?"

Other than looking like a mess, Brooke nodded her head. "For some strange reason, I thought this would be a lot easier."

"Are you kidding?" Ben took back his comment when Brooke eyed him. "You know what I meant. You're still just a beginner; you honestly think you can take Professor Malistaire on at this moment?"

Hearing the words from Ben's mouth made Brooke blush in embarrassment to her own thoughts. Well… "If I'm a beginner, what are you then?"

"I haven't checked in a while. I think I'm level 10 now."

"Level? This is starting to sound like a video game."

Ben looked to Brooke quizzically. "You know, video games!" Brooke threw up her arms in fake enthusiasm, but the blank expression on Ben's face made her drop them quickly. "You're telling me you guys don't have video games here?"

"Should we?" Figuring Ben wasn't going to understand it, Brooke quickly dropped the subject before he could question her on where the heck she came from.

"Anyways, what did that Nightchant guy want again?" Brooke tried to remember what the teen they talked to earlier in the day asked of them, but she really couldn't recall what it was.

Ben retrieved his spell book, opening to a specific page filled with cursive. "Hmm, well from what the scroll he gave us said, we need to go fight some guy named Rattlebones."

"He sounds alive." Brooke flatly commented, when she noticed a few more warriors coming their way. "Let's go Ben!"

She grabbed his arm, pulling him from middle of the road and over to the side-walk. Luckily they got on just in time, as the warriors didn't seem to notice a thing. Brooke sighed, turning her head to her friend. "Tell me again how this spell works?"

Ben steadied himself from the pull, checking to make sure his spell book was still in his hands. "Head Master Ambrose casted a spell on all the sidewalks in Wizard City to protect the faculty and student body while traveling through dangerous terrain. It's supposed to make it so that monsters can't see you, so long as you keep to the sidewalk."

"I wish you had warned of that when we first came here." Brooke recalled all of the horrible mistakes she made when she first entered into Unicorn Way. Not some of the best decisions she made in her life, that was for sure.

Ben flashed a fake smile. "I thought everyone just knew about that."

"Well if you hadn't noticed, I don't really know the norm around here. Now where does that scroll say to find this guy?"

Ben looked to his open spell book, gently laying a hand over the page. His hand quickly started to glow when the light shot up and out of the page until it floated a foot from the book's surface. It morphed into a small arrow, which pointed north. "I guess that way."

"Then that way it is!" Brooke triumphantly led the way, striding in each step. Ben just sighed, shook his head before producing a smile and followed.

Just as they had turned a corner, Ben took the lead to show the way. They saw before them at the end of the road a small tower, where the arrow directly pointed. When they approached the door, the arrow lightly faded away. "Alright, this is it. You ready, Brooke?"

"As ready as I can be! Between the two of us, I'm sure we can beat this dude!"

With a triumphant pose, which wasn't all that inspiring and a kick to the door, Brooke wasn't surprised to see another Skeletal Warrior waiting for them inside. A dark sprite hovered behind him in wait, as the Skeleton had an evil glint in its undead eyes. "Well, well! So someone has finally stepped forth to face the mighty Rattlebones!"

He pointed his bony finger at Brooke. "I challenge you, young girl, to a Wizard duel!"

Brooke looked to Ben, shrugging her shoulders. "Sounds fair. 2 on 2, not bad."

Rattlebones looked distant for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "Now, who said you get to make the rules?"

Brooke lowered her wand a bit, confused. "Wait; there are rules to these battles?"

"Of course, you ignorant girl! Whoever calls forth the duel gets to make the rules, and I say that you'll have to fight me and my servant by yourself!"

Brooke almost dropped her wand. "Are you serious?! Ugh, fine, I'll take you both out!"

"Confident words for a sitting duck! Have at you!"

* * *

"You know Brooke; I really think you should pick a School." Ben looked to his beat-up friend, as the two of them sat in the infirmary in the Commons. They were taken to one of the patient rooms to wait for someone to come and help them.

Brooke sat an ice pack on her head with one of her hands as a black eye rested on the left side of her face, but that didn't stop her from looking so upset. This was the third time today that they had ran over to the Doctors after Brooke kept continuously failing to beat Rattlebones.

Ben sat in one of the waiting chairs next to the exam table, which Brooke rested upon. He tried making eye contact with Brooke, but it was hard to see her in such a state. "You need to start honing your core into one School, or else you'll never get anywhere in your quest to save the worlds."

Brooke gave a pitiful sniffle, wiping away her tears for the third time that day. She turned her head away in defiance. "I can do this! I just need the duel to start with me first…"

Ben sighed, wondering if he would ever get through her stubborn exterior. "Look, I know you don't like Professor Falmea, but you really should consider Fire. I mean, Death is awesome and all, but you really seem made for Fire."

"How many times do I have to tell this to everyone? I'm not joining that-!" Brooke was about to finish her rant, when she saw Ben's transparent concern.

Her anger melted away, and soon she started to question her thinking. Ben was right; she needed to join a School. Like it or not, she did feel a certain pull when it came towards Fire. Maybe if Arthur taught that School this would have been a different story, but because Falmea was in charge… Brooke just couldn't swallow her pride and give that teacher the satisfaction of seeing her grovel. "I'll think on it…"

"Well I hope you do so soon, Rattlebones isn't going to stop his plan and wait for you to come back." Both of them cut their conversation short when a humanoid white-tailed deer dressed in a nurse outfit came into the room they occupied.

She eyed Brooke, raising an eyebrow. "Back again, Brooke? I just saw you two hours ago. What are you doing to yourself to end up this badly?"

Brooke sighed, not really in the mood to justify her pain with an answer… again. "Can you please just heal me, Nurse Fawnabelle?"

The young nurse glanced at Brooke's beaten body, then back to her clipboard. She sighed, setting it down and pulling out one of her cards. "Unicorn."

Once again Brooke felt herself become familiar with the magical Unicorn of healing. In seconds her head felt brand new, and her black eye had returned to its normal, fleshy color. Brooke sat up from her seat, moving her muscles. "Thanks, Nurse Fawnabelle."

"Don't you have a healing spell you can use on yourself?" Nurse Fawnabelle put her hands on her hips. She had other, more badly injured patients to get to then Brooke again.

Brooke just sheepishly looked away. "Well, I was supposed to get one from this magical fairy lady…but she ran out."

Nurse Fawnabelle glanced over to her friend, who just gave a shrug in reply. She rifled through her pockets, producing a card. "Here. This should relieve some of the pain when you do go back out there."

Brooke looked to the card the Nurse gave her. It was a healing spell with a blonde fairy on it. "Can I keep this?"

"Yes, you can keep it. Now, I have other patients who need me. Stay out of trouble this time Brooke, do you hear me?"

"Uh, I'll try?" Brooke gave a quizzical look to the Fawn, her arms half raised. Nurse Fawnabelle just rolled her eyes, grabbed her clipboard and left the room the two were in.

Quick as they got there, the two left the infirmary to see notice it was almost nighttime. Brooke rubbed the back of her neck, checking to make sure the crick in her neck earlier was gone as well. "I got to tell you, Ben. I never thought being a hero would be this hard."

"We already discussed this Brooke; you're still just a beginner." Ben folded his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Did you really think you could take the world by storm with your low-level spells and training wand?"

"Oh heck no! I didn't expect to have my butt kicked that hard is all. That guy is merciless." Brooke sighed, watching the warm orange and yellows of the sky slowly fade into a deep, dark blue.

"Well, I need to study for a test tomorrow." Ben glanced nervously over to Brooke, whose pride seemed to have taken a hit or two during all the fighting today. "You know Brooke, maybe you just weren't cut out for this. I'm sure someone else can bring Professor Malistaire down; you don't have to beat yourself up over this. Literately."

"Trust me, I wish someone else could." Brooke sighed, noticing that the two had walked themselves back into Raven Wood. "You go study Ben; I'm going to turn in for the night. We'll try again tomorrow."

"Alright then." Ben left Brooke for the boy's dorm, as Brooke watched him disappear behind the old oak door.

She sighed, realizing that she was the only one out tonight in Raven Wood. Everyone else was probably studying or having fun with their friends; things normal teenagers did. Instead, Brooke got the satisfaction of having her rear handed to her three times and accomplishing nothing today.

Some hero she was.

Her hands rummaged through her pockets, trying to find her keys to her dorm. Her hand hit upon the card she had just gotten, and she slowly withdrew it out. Everyone had a School to call their own; perhaps it was time to get one herself. She didn't like it, but…

Brooke had to forcefully drag herself over to the Fire Building, where the tree for the School blazed continuously. It was great for seeing in the dark, but that didn't make the place any less hot. She stood outside the door to the building for at least 10 minutes, just trying to force down her pride and ego to knock.

She raised a hand to rasp on the door, but was startled when the door opened itself. Professor Falmea had a small purse with her, just as equally as startled to see Brooke waiting outside her building. Her surprise quickly melted away into curiosity though. "Well hello Brooke. I didn't expect to meet you out here tonight like this."

"Me neither." Brooke grumbled. She wondered if she could still salvage her pride and just leave without having to sell out, but she knew she had to train in **something**. "Ah, Professor Falmea?"

The Professor gave a sly smile. "Yes, Brooke?"

Brooke had to wrestle for control of her mouth, trying to not sound like an idiot. That wasn't accomplished though. "Look…I….well…ugh…."

Her temper flared once more, just spit it out she yelled inside herself! It didn't help either when Professor Falmea looked too overjoyed to see the state Brooke was in.

The teacher put a hand on her hip. "Is something the matter? Fire cat got your tongue?"

"Will you teach me Fire?!"

Brooke's eyes widened from her sudden outburst, and she quickly clamped her mouth shut. Professor Falmea's tiger-like eyes were gone with astonishment, and they settled back down. Not in her usual prey-like state though, but normal eyes. "I'm quite surprised Brooke, I figured you'd wait at least another day before you finally came to me."

"Yeah well… I keep getting beat up. I need to learn more powerful spells and… you know…" Brooke spun her hand, as if the notion would clue the Professor in to the rest of her sentence.

Knowing Professor Falmea, she knew she got the rest. Her lips curled into a genuine smile, one Brooke had not seen on the young Professor before. She put a reassuring hand on Brooke's shoulders. "It would bring me great pleasure to teach you, Brooke. I have much to teach you, and you have much to learn."

"I figured." Brooke sighed, letting how tired she felt finally show through. "Can we start tomorrow though? I'm exhausted."

"Of course, I was heading to bed myself." Not letting go of Brooke's shoulder, the two women walked back down the circle of Raven Wood. "I think this is the start of beautiful partnership, Brooke **FireHammer**."

"Oh don't rub it in."

* * *

Like normal mornings these days, Brooke awoke to the sound of a squawking bird near her window. She put a hand to her groggy head before pulling herself out of her covers.

She opened the window to see the giant eagle hovering just feet away, its eyes darting practically everywhere. It gave a cute chirp when it noticed her. She sighed; stroking the bird's head, then called out over to the boy's dorm. "Yo Nathaniel! Keep your bird over by you!"

Another window, a few floors down, opened up to reveal the confused and embarrassed student. "Sorry Brooke! Come here Bert!"

Hearing its master's call, Bert the eagle darted away from Brooke and over to the boy's dorm. Its head rammed into the open window, as Brooke could hear some pretty funny statements from the shock Nathaniel received. She shook her head and closed her window, noticing two letters on her desk.

One was a small note from Head Master Ambrose:

_Good morning Brooke!_

_So sorry to bother you, but because we were unsure of your position at Raven Wood, we have been withholding your mail. Now that you are a fully-fledged student though, we have opened a mail box for you down near the library. On the back of this note is the key to your box, don't lose it!_

_Below this note is the only piece of mail that has come for you so far. I figured you would rather have it now than having to get it later in your box. _

_Again, Gamma and I are happy to hear the great news of your stay, and we hope to see great things from you! See you in a few!_

_Signed_

_Merle Ambrose, Head Master of Raven Wood School of Magical Arts_

See you in a few? That didn't creep Brooke out at all. She flipped the note over, seeing the key and a note card stuck to the back.

She peeled away the tape, pocketing the key as she looked to the note card: 96. Guess that was her box number.

She threw away the note before picking up the other letter. It was sealed in an envelope with a stamp in the upper right corner. The return address immediately caught Brooke's attention. It was her home address.

Ripping the envelope open, Brooke sat down on her bed to see her mother's handwriting. She almost burst into tears just seeing that. After all this madness and not being able to go home, it overjoyed Brooke and brought with it a sense of misery just to know that her family had sent her something. Taking a shaky breath, she started on the first line:

_Dear Brooke,_

_Words cannot describe the emotions I felt when your brothers and I couldn't find you the day you were __**supposed **__to leave for your father's. Letter or not, you come and tell us when you're going to be leaving for somewhere, especially for a new School!_

_What were you thinking? It's almost the end of the school year, and you join another school just like that? Where did you even learn of this 'Raven Wood'? You have a lot to answer for when you come back for the summer, missy._

Oh man, that wasn't going to be pleasant.

_I had half a mind to call the cops and put out a search warrant for you. For all I knew, you had suddenly taken off and left behind a note saying you were attending another school. Tell me if that isn't fishy! _

_However, once the Dean came by and explained to us the situation, things became clearer. I still don't like the fact that you didn't tell us about this first before you enrolled, but if it helps you get a better foot out into the adult world, then I guess I'm ok with it. You're still going to get a talking to from your father though when you come home._

_Your dean seems like a very nice man, Brooke. I had my suspicions at first, but I feel like you're in good hands at Raven Wood. _

_Well, I guess that's all I have to say on the matter right now. I'll be sending you a care package, so please let me know what you want me to pack! Who knows? We might come up some time to come visit you and see this so-called 'elite school for the gifted'. I'm excited for you!_

_We all miss you down here, so please write back soon!_

_Lots of love,_

_Mom_

Brooke didn't know if she should have felt loved or terrified. Going home now seemed like a punishment, and she wasn't looking forward to that talk with her dad. Still, she missed them all so much. It just reminded her how much she longed for home.

Putting the letter away in her desk, Brooke quickly changed into her robes and set off to the Fire Building. She was instructed last night to meet Professor Falmea there early in the morning for some one-on-one training. She just hoped it wasn't going to be long; she still needed to beat up that stupid pile of bones.

As Brooke continued her stroll down Raven Wood, she noticed Tara, Bruce and someone else having a conversation on the grass near the ravine. A picnic blanket was spread out for them as well as a small picnic basket with tiny sandwiches. Tara and Bruce sat on the blanket, but the third one was in a wheelchair.

From where Brooke stood, the girl's gentle blue eyes seemed sad, yet happy at the same time. She had soft purple pigtails, which curled at the ends. She wore a light pink camisole over her green tank top, while her legs were covered with a pink blanket. From the way Tara and this girl looked as they talked, Brooke figured they were good friends.

Knowing that the last thing she wanted to do was get sighted by Tara, Brooke quickly darted into the Fire Building before she had the chance to spot her. She had enough of Tara the last time she talked with her.

Slamming the door behind her, Brooke accidentally startled Professor Falmea, who turned in confusion. Her eyes settled though when she saw it was Brooke. "Good morning, my student. I didn't realize you were so eager to start the day."

"Eh, well…" Brooke shrugged her shoulders, not really in the mood to explain herself. "How long is this going to take? I have to get back out to Unicorn Way and beat up some baddies."

Professor Falmea searched through her desk, not batting an eye to the young wizard. "With questions like that, we might be here awhile. Patience is what you'll need today in order for you to advance."

Brooke gave a huff of irritation. "I have patience."

"Do you?" Professor Falmea almost chuckled at Brooke's face, which looked annoyed and impatient as always. Finding what she needed, she got back up and strolled over to Brooke. "Come now, my pyromancer. Let us begin."

* * *

**I bet no one saw Brooke becoming a Fire Wizard Coming! :D Am I right? *Bricked***

**So yeah, no big surprise there. I always had the intention of making her a Pyromancer, as you probably all guessed what with the huge hints I've been putting out. However I'm not really happy with this chapter. OTL It feels really weird for me personally, like it doesn't flow right. I've really be neglecting my writing duties since I went to college, and for that I'm sorry guys!**

**Well, I hope you guys find some enjoyment in this chapter, as Brooke struggles to find the Hero she needs to be! Also, a small cameo from her family! I bet you guys didn't expect that! Right? …Right?**

***Sighs* I'll just go back to my corner now. **


End file.
